Dawn Of Darkness
by dhulli
Summary: PostOOTPDumbledore makes a mistake and Harry runs away. Meanwhile wizards in gray robes start to appear and block deatheater attacks. Voldemort prepares his forces as Dumbledore strives to control Harry. The war reaches a whole new level.HARRY!DARK!HIATUS
1. Leaving Privet Drive

**Chapter 1: Leaving Privet Drive**

Harry Potter was once again trapped at Privet Drive, isolated from the rest of the world. It had been a week since he had come here and all he had was eat, sleep or go to the bathroom. If anyone could see his eyes closely, they would recognize the pain in them.

His godfather had died some days ago and it was because of his own fault. He had been so dumb as to follow blindly after his dreams and his dumbness had led to Sirius's death.

Harry kicked his trunk very hard and lay on the floor whimpering in pain. His trunk had several marks where he had kicked it several times before.

Damn! I've got to stop doing that. Harry was still feeling depressed and frustrated when he heard a soft knock on the window. He opened the window to find an over excited owl "Pigwidgeon" carrying two letters which were already heavy enough for him.

The first letter was from Ron:

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope the muggles are treating you well. Dumbledore has made us come to Grimmauld Place due to our being prime targets and all. Hermione is also here because Dumbledore said our friendship is well known and bound to attract You-know-Who's attention._

_Well enough of the boring stuff, Fred and George are going pretty well with their shop, they're literally raking in galleons! I can't wait to visit, but Mum says we'll have to wait until you come with us._

_Speaking of which Dad will come to pick you up in about three days._

_See you soon mateRon_

The second letter apparently was from Hermione, but unlike Ron who had altogether ignored mentioning Sirius, Harry knew Hermione's letter wouldn't be the same.

_Dear Harry_

_How are you? I know you must be killing yourself isolated from all of us like last year and right after the loss of Sirius. Harry please, it wasn't your fault, if it was anybody's it was Voldemort's fault. Once again, Sirius died as he would've liked and you couldn't have known nor prevented it._

_And now on to other matters, I'm really frustrated, I don't know if I did well enough on my OWLs or not. And since we took OWLs, we didn't receive any summer homework. Its getting really boring here, no homework and no going out. The Order is busy for obvious reasons. _

_I know these are the first letters we're writing and I'm sorry about that but Dumbledore forbade us to write more than one letter in a week. Dumbledore also mentioned a few other things but I can't discuss that right now. But when you come here I'll tell you everything you want to know._

_Hermione_

Harry knew Hermione was afraid of him exploding like last year again. The letters had only slightly broken the monotony of Harry's everyday in Privet Drive and it wasn't much time before Harry returned to sulking, sleeping and eating only.

Harry hadn't thought much about the Prophecy then but now after eight days in Privet Drive he recalled it perfectly. It didn't matter to him then and didn't matter to him now, but he was a bit confused as to why Dumbledore hadn't still arranged for some kind of training for him.

After all, he had to face Voldemort one day, not that he hadn't faced him a few times already and escaped due to sheer luck. And the DADA teachers that Dumbledore had put them through, with the exception of Remus Lupin weren't getting them anywhere. He supposed the DA had been quite useful for all of the its members, especially if they were to one day become involved in a full scale war. But the DA was for teaching others, and Harry wanted someone to teach him something so that he could at least be ready for Voldemort one day.

Harry then began to debate, whether or not to tell Ron and Hermione about the prophecy. He supposed it wasn't too dangerous to tell them about the first part but then he even decided against telling them that. He knew that they're friendships with him would suffer as they would see him with fear and sadness like he was destined to die, and then they would give him fake assurances that everything would be okay and he would finally defeat Voldemort.

Another week passed and Harry was starting to think whether Ron was telling the truth or not. And it was one night thinking this that he heard a small pop sound. He jumped out of bed, wand raised to find Mr. Weasley standing there. Hastily putting his wand back into his pocket he greeted him. "Hello Mr. Weasley!".

"Hello Harry, get your stuff and hurry up, hold on to this portkey and we'll be getting there immediately" Mr. Weasley barely whispered. Harry got up pulled his trunk out from underneath the bed which was already packed. Harry stepped forward to place his hand on the portkey, an old pocket watch. Harry wondered whether Death eaters could also apparate into his house like Mr. Weasley just did, just as Mr. Weasley said the activation word "Phoenix"

**AN: Okay so this is the first chapter, hope you like it. Expect the next chapter in a day or two and it will also be longer. Reviews plz!**


	2. Sirius's Will

**AN: Ok so I became a little hyper and decided to post the next chapter today too. I'm really sad that I didn't get any reviews...Oh well, Enjoy! **

**CHAPTER 2: Sirius's Will**

Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place and found himself sprawled on the floor. Ron gave him a hand up and he turned to look around. Grimmauld Place was just like he had seen it before, Molly Weasley, Ginny, Hermione and Mr. Weasley were all gathered in the living room where he had apparently arrived.

It wasn't soon before Harry was drowned in a wave of hugs. "Harry you're finally here" Hermione exclaimed. "Finally" Harry shrugged. "Thank goodness you're here mate, Hermione's driving me crazy about OWLs." was Ron's greeting. "Hello Harry" mumbled Ginny "Hi Gin." "Harry dear you must be starving" Molly repeated her favorite greeting and she pushed him into the kitchen with Ron, Hermione and Ginny in tow.

As Harry got down to a late dinner, everyone in the room was sitting around him nervously as if he was going to explode. The nervousness seemed to settle down a bit as Mrs. Weasley asked Harry, "I've set your bed in the room where you stayed with Ron last year, dear. Will that be fine?" "Um, actually, I'd prefer to sleep in Sirius's bedroom." That statement left everybody in a sudden shock.

Oh come on! Harry thought as he got up and made his way towards Sirius's bedroom. Really, I don't need pity and I don't need advice. I'd appreciate it if someone was just there for me, like Sirius used to be….Harry's thoughts trailed off. A single tear trickled down Harry's face as he sat down on the cold stone floor.

That night, Harry cried himself out, he had been alone, cold and still on the stone floor. Forehead touching knee's Harry went into an uneasy sleep.

Harry awoke to find himself in the same position as he was when he went to sleep. He found his shirt all wet. Had he cried that much? It was then that Harry decided, that he wouldn't cry anymore. After all he was tough and one day he had to face Voldemort. Harry slowly got up and looked out the window. The sun was taking a peek at the landscape and the surrounding area was already covered in red light.

Seeing the red light Harry imagined blood and a war to come. The war was drawing closer and closer. No one could avoid it. Seeing the sun finally emerge fully, Harry realized for the first time that only the powerful would win.

Later, in the afternoon, Harry was sitting in the kitchen eating dinner with the Weasleys, at least those that were here when suddenly the fireplace turned green and out came Remus Lupin. He looked to be in bad shape and a sadness similar to Harry's was seen in his eyes. He was the last of the Marauders, as Peter had already been excluded.

."Hello Harry, I need to talk to you in private" "Ok" Harry replied as he followed Remus into the living room. "Harry, today is the hearing date of Sirius's will, did you know?" "No" replied Harry confused. "Well it is and we better get there early, we'll discuss why you didn't get a letter with the goblins."

Harry followed Remus back to the kitchens. "Molly, I'm taking Harry to gringots for Sirius's will, we'll be back relatively soon."

Harry and Remus arrived by floo powder at the Leaky Couldron. Tom the barman waved them over. "Already had lunch Tom" Harry saw Tom smile as they made their way over to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Remus tapped the bricks and they made their way down the street.

Diagon Alley was not like it once was, people seemed to look around suspiciously and kept their children close to them. People were going about shopping as if it was a necessity. "The more they fear him, the more he grows powerful" "What was that Harry" Remus asked. "Nothing" came a low reply.

The Goblins at Gringots seemed to go about their business as if nothing had happened. Harry knew that no matter what, the Goblins would never get involved in the war. So Gringots bank would remain opened for deatheaters and aurors alike.

Harry decided he needed to visit his vault too after the hearing of the will so that he wouldn't embarrass the Weasleys by visiting in front of them. A goblin greeted them at the front counter and after Remus telling them the purpose of their visit, he led them to a small room and went to call the solicitor of the Black Family. After only a few minutes of waiting he appeared wearing formal black robes. It seemed that Remus had informed them prior to their visit.

They shook hands with the Solicitor who introduced himself as Mr. Boucher. Immediately after that Mr. Boucher began to read Sirius's will:

_I Sirius Black of sane mind state my will in the case of my death as follows._

_To Harry James Potter, my godson I leave everything else I own, including_

_The Black family vault._

_The Noble house of Black_

_Also Harry I left a letter with my solicitor to give to you in the case of my death._

_Sirius Black _

After reading the will Mr. Boucher took signatures of Harry and Remus (as witness) to confirm the will. He handed Harry a letter and started talking with the Goblin. Harry went to sit on a chair in the corner and tore it open. Remus thought of giving him some time and so didn't interfere.

Inside were two parchments, a formal looking one and an informal one which Harry guessed must be the real letter.

_Dear Harry_

_If you are reading this letter than this means that I've died. And if I died fighting to protect you then it means that I've died how I would've wanted. Harry I know you must feel sad but please, I ask this of you, live your life for yourself, not for any others. Too much of a pure heart like yours, often leads a person to be used, so Harry I want you to make your own decisions._

_Harry you should also know that since I've died a new guardian will be appointed for you. I know you like to live an independent life, and Dumbledore often doesn't see what a person wants so I leave this for you Harry:_

_The other parchment is a minor emancipation form. I know Dumbledore will be fairly unpleased by it but I know you don't need any guardians. With that I place my trust upon you to look after yourself carefully and avoid unwanted trouble. Just sign the form and give it to Mr. Boucher._

_Yours truly,_

_Sirius Black_

Harry now felt a tinge of excitement rising up, he quickly signed the parchment and handed it to Mr. Boucher who took it with a mischievous smile. He waved his wand over the parchment and three other copies appeared. "One each for the ministry, Gringots, myself and here you go." with that Mr. Boucher gave Harry a parchment and quickly left.

Harry began reading the parchment which stated that now he was legally an adult. As he was over 15 years old, he could claim ownership of all his family assets after their deaths. He was allowed all the things a person who is of age is allowed to do.

"What's this Harry?" Remus asked, curious to all the parchment being exchanged. Harry showed the parchment to Remus who took a while to read and re-read the parchment. His smile turning into a frown, "Should've known Sirius would do something stupid" he muttered. "HE DID NOT DO ANYTHING STUPID!" Harry yelled. Unable to control himself he stormed out of the room.

Harry went to the front desk and asked the goblin for access to his vault. "Your personal vault, the Potter family vault or the Black family vault?" Harry was surprised with the question and replied "Potter family vault".

The Goblin took him to a cart which traveled a long way down, at least longer than Harry had ever gone down gringots. They arrived at an old looking vault which had spider webs over it as if it hadn't been opened in years.

"The Family vaults are not able to be opened by anyone except the legal heir to the family. Normally only wizards of age qualify for this but since you have just been emancipated, you are allowed as well." Harry wondered at the knowledge of the Goblin regarding his emancipation.

Harry was asked to place his hand on the center of the door which opened by his touch as if it was made of cloth. Inside the vault were mounds and mounds of galleons. It was then that Harry decided that he would spend his money openly, not like Malfoy of course but still, as much as he could and on more useful purposes.

Harry filled a lot of money into a bottomless sack that he found lying in the corner. He thought Remus must be waiting so he hurried back.

As he walked out into the Gringots main hall, he found Remus still frowning and in a bad mood and muttering something regarding Dumbledore. As Harry walked out, he looked at the surroundings more carefully and he could just about make out order members in disguise.

"They're still following me aren't they?" Harry asked, "Dumbledore's orders, besides with Voldemort out there, can you expect to be able to go alone. Harry, listen to me, its not safe for you, we are here to protect you."

Just as Harry stepped out of the floo at Grimmauld Place, Remus stepped in again and yelled, Headmaster's Office Hogwarts!

**AN:**

**Its twice the size of the last chapter and I promise you the next chapter will be even bigger. The next chapter should be posted in a day ( I'm on holidays so I'm going to post like 2 or 3 chapters a day :P till the 31st) But in return I beg of you only one thing REVIEWS! **

**Next chapter: we'll see the scene in the headmaster's office and a little bit of a quarrel between Harry and his friends.**


	3. Confrontations

**A/N: I live in asia and was down for an entire day which is why I couldn't post the third chapter(I had it ready).**

**Sorry about the complete problem, I fixed that. So this chapter is dedicated to my first reviewers: shizukesa-sama, angelkitty77, Tama-chan40 and Gryffindors. Really now so much hits and so little reviews :(**

**On to the third chapter……Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER 3: Confrontations**

**Dumbledore's Office:**

"Professor, Harry is still a child, he needs guardians and with You-know-Who back we need to keep Harry safe." Remus was exhausted now, as he ended his story with the suggestion. "Yes Remus I agree with you, Sirius has taken some…unexpected measures." Dumbledore wasn't yelling but he still sounded grave.

"What are we going to do Albus?" questioned Minerva McGonagall. "We needn't do anything, let the boy go out and get himself killed and it'll be the end of his and Black's clumsiness." "Shut up Snape. You know what he is destined to do!" Remus replied. The senior order members had all been briefed on part of the prophecy and so they all knew the importance of the boy-who-lived.

"Remus is right Severus, the boy is invaluable to the Order and we cannot afford to lose him, not to mention what would happen if the deatheaters find him. Our first course of action should be to talk to young Harry, see if we can make him accept someone as his guardian. In the case if this fails, we will have to forcefully contain him at Grimmauld place" Minerva and Remus gasped while Snape smirked "He will not be allowed to leave Grimmauld Place and once term starts, I'm sure he'll forget everything and get on with his studies." Dumbledore stated.

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh Albus" Minerva put in though she knew that once Albus Dumbledore made a decision, no one could change it. "Well Minerva, it isn't any different than last year when we put Harry in Grimmauld Place, the only difference will be that now, he could legally challenge our decision and I don't want him to be informed of this."

"Should we go now Professor?" Remus asked, "You can call me Albus, Remus as its long since I've been your professor. And about your question, I think we should give him a day before we talk with him so he can think over the matter. We'll go tomorrow. On the other hand, would you like to stay at Hogwarts for the night Remus?" Snape made a face "It would be my pleasure Pro…Albus."

Meanwhile at No.12 Grimmauld Place, Harry Potter had no thoughts leaving Grimmauld Place. Night had already fallen and with it, the darkness and quite. Today had been a fiasco. First Remus's reaction to Harry's emancipation, then Mrs. Weasley's reaction by breaking down in tears and hugging him as though he was doomed and then the most dreaded of all, his friends reaction. Harry recalled that as he lay down on Sirius's bed for the first time.

_/Flashback/_

_After a hugging and crying session with Molly Weasley, Harry entered the living room to find Ron, Hermione and Ginny seated there with grim expressions. "You heard?" Harry asked to which Ginny raised a pair of extendable ears. _

"_Really Harry you shouldn't have.." Hermione was about to start when Harry began to lose his temper. "Shouldn't have what?" he almost yelled. "Really Harry, Sirius probably left that as a last option.." Ginny added. Now Harry completely lost it. "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME. AND DON'T TALK ABOUT SIRIUS!"_

_Harry tried to calm himself several times and finally succeeded, though only partially. At that time Molly Weasley peeked through the door and then left. It was a matter between kids and it wouldn't do well to interfere. They needed to settle this on their own._

_Hermione and Ginny were tear stricken mumbling something like "You'll get yourself killed on your own Harry." Harry didn't think he could take it any longer and turned around to find Ron staring at him with a strange look in his face that he couldn't quite place._

_Jealousy! Oh of all the things I needed, Harry thought bitterly. He ignored them all and went upstairs. I don't get their reactions, they don't even know about the Prophecy. But unknown to him, they had heard the part of the Prophecy that Dumbledore had told the Order, through extendable ears. The meeting had been sudden and immediate so Molly Weasley didn't have time to put a charm on the door._

_/End Flashback/_

Harry lay in bed thinking about the real reason why he didn't want another guardian. Of course he wasn't jealous for the money and part of the reason for emancipation was his freedom but the part that nobody knew about was that he feared that his guardian would die for him. And he didn't think he could bear the death of another one of his guardians. Except the Dursley's of course but they had no counting in the magical world.

Harry stood up and gazed out the window, it had become a habit of his. He watched the entire world engulfed in darkness, in peace and quiet. He started to think if the world would similarly be in peace if darkness reigned. But no, the kind of darkness that Voldemort spread was not peaceful. But the main question was, is there another kind of Darkness?

Harry woke up to a knock on the door. He guessed Ron probably didn't want to say anything else or anybody else for that matter. And if they didn't want to say anything, he wouldn't say anything about Sirius or the emancipation.

Harry went into the kitchen to find Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Remus sitting on the dinning table. Molly Weasley was cooking breakfast. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all sitting in chairs apparently waiting anxiously for what was going to happen.

"Harry, come join us for a nice breakfast." Dumbledore requested. Harry knew that all of them weren't just here for a nice breakfast as Dumbledore had meant to state. After eating a long breakfast Harry knew he couldn't delay them any longer. "So Professor was there something you wished to discuss with me?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry, you guessed correctly" After that Dumbledore stared at Ron, Ginny and Hermione and then at Molly Weasley. "If this concerns the prophecy then we're not going anywhere, we overheard what you told the order professor and besides Harry is our friend, we want to see what happens to him." Ron stated.

The whole room was in shock, the adults because of the children's knowledge of the prophecy and Harry because Dumbledore had used the Prophecy to probably instill faith in the order and for other who knows what purposes. Harry had previously thought Dumbledore would keep this as a secret from others but from this Harry guessed that Dumbledore probably kept it as a secret from others so he could keep it secret from Harry himself.

"Okay Harry, since your previous guardian in the wizarding world, Sirius is now dead, we wish to place you under the guardianship of someone else." Dumbledore started by getting to the point. "But as Remus probably informed you last night Professor, I am emancipated." Harry replied firmly. Dumbledore knew this wasn't starting well and so he took a whole different approach. "Harry" he said with emotion. "Remus, has asked that he be your guardian. Surely you would like to be placed under the guardianship of the last marauder, the last of your father's and Sirius's friends."

Harry knew where Dumbledore was taking this and simply stated, "No professor, although I appreciate Remus for making this offer, I deny it on the basis that its not a problem of who but a problem of whether I want a guardian or not." Seeing the conversation slipping out of hand Dumbledore made one final shot "You'll regret this later Harry…." Harry was surprised, Dumbledore was threatening him. "I don't think so!" and with that Harry left the room bewildered.

Ron, Ginny and Hermione left hurriedly after that, not wanting to be scolded for over hearing the Order meeting. They were all shocked at Harry's tone of voice with the headmaster. They went into Ron's room to discuss about how to handle Harry, "He's changed so much." and they all agreed with that.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, "What do we do now Albus?" "We do what we planned to do" Dumbledore nodded at Remus "Remus, you are to inform him of his limitations" Dumbledore turned to Snape "I want you to start Occlumency with him during the summer, starting from Tomorrow" Molly Weasley was shocked at the news, it was like they were holding him prisoner. Dumbledore turned to Molly "It might be Voldemort planting thoughts in his head" That seemed to convince Molly Weasley never to let him out of the house.

Lunch that day was a silent affair. Remus had also planned to stay. Everybody was looking at each other nervously. Harry had been in his room since breakfast and now he was eating his lunch calmly as if not had happened. "Harry, you are not to leave the house without an adult." Remus thought to get it over with." Excuse me Remus, but I believe I am legally already an adult." "Dumbledore has put wards around the house so that you can leave only with an adult and that too with a member of the order." Remus awaited Harry to go angry again and start yelling but nothing came.

Harry on the other hand was barely controlling his anger, another of the old man's mistakes. I'll see to that later, there is no point arguing right now. "okay" was all Harry said before once again isolating himself into the confines of his room. He had some serious thinking to do.

**A/N: So how do you like it? I decided to do the confrontation with Dumbledore in this chapter. The reviews compel me to write quickly, so please review.**

**Next chapter: We'll see Snape with his first occlumency lesson but believe me it will be the last and the much awaited run away will take place. :p **


	4. Escape

**A/N: Big problems with my internet connection. But its back.**

**ok answers to some questions:**

**Harry is legally an adult, he gets all the privileges of an adult but he is still 15 years old and I'm sure there are magical differences which take place when a person becomes of age at 17 like maturing of the magical core and paperwork cannot change that and as in HBP in the boat in the cave, the boat could identify whether an of age person is on it or not. As to the order of the Phoenix, I'm sure they're all connected with Dumbledore via a charm of secrecy. And I'm sure Dumbledore puts that to other uses ;). **

**CHAPTER 4: Escape**

_Okay so let me get this straight, Dumbledore has wards on the house to literally confine me, not that I have anywhere else to go but still, the thought of being detained in my own house…..damn! And then there are Ron and Hermione, some friends! They don't really understand me. Ron with his jealousy and Hermione with her respect for authority, I doubt I'd be able to tell them how I really feel like, I wish there was someone…..someone like Sirius. He's dead Damn it! move on. _Harry Potter was pacing furiously around in his room thinking those very thoughts.

Did Dumbledore actually think that Harry would forgive him for pulling such an act? Of course, he was the golden boy after all, with the purest heart, always ready to forgive.

Harry Potter knew not what to think, nor what to do, so he went with the only other option, sleep. He had a nightmare that need, but unlike his usual ones, this was based on the events of the day. With Dumbledore putting him in jail and Ron and Hermione shaking their heads as if he had done something bad, Harry woke from the dream almost ready to scream.

Harry Potter then made a decision. _I don't know when and I don't know how, but I am going to get out of here._

At breakfast the tension seemed to be mounting and mounting. Apparently, Ron and Hermione had been told by Mrs. Weasley to talk to Harry. "Harry why don't we visit the Black library, I've heard its very extensive." Ron made a face at that and provided an alternative "Or we could always play chess or exploding snap or something."

Seeing both of their eyes Harry found that they were both forced to talk to him and that was not how Harry had wanted. "No thanks but I'm not in the mood". At that point the bell rang.

"Who could it be at this time?" Mrs. Weasley got up and headed towards the front door, "Professor Snape! What a surprise, would you…er…care to join us for breakfast". Harry was hearing this from the kitchen and his heart was sinking fast.

Snape appeared in the kitchen doorway, "I need to speak with Potter." he spat and went into the living room to wait. Harry decided to keep the man waiting longer by eating more breakfast. "You shouldn't keep Professor Snape waiting dear" Mrs. Weasley said so Harry got up and after a glance at his friends who were looking at him with pity went to join Snape. _They actually think I fear the git._ Harry thought bitterly.

"Potter, Professor Dumbledore has asked me to continue with your occlumency lessons. And although I hate the lessons as much as you, we are to continue nonetheless." Snape said before Harry even got a chance to sit down.

"Okay Professor, I'll be there Thursday evenings in your office like before."

"You mistake me Potter, of course with a brain the size of yours I don't expect any better. You are to continue with your occlumency lessons in the summer I'll be here after every other day for your occlumency lessons, and as I am here already, I think we might as well start."

Harry was completely shocked by this but in no way prepared for what happened next. Snape waved his wand and all the doors shut and locked. Another wave and living room area was cleared of furniture. And finally he pointed his wand at Harry and yelled "_Legilimens"._

It was one of the most violent assaults Harry had ever experienced but he managed enough to pull out his wand and yell _"EXPELLIARMUS". _ Snape was blasted backwards and landed on a sofa placed upright. His wand flew into the air and Harry caught it.

Harry then realized he consequences of his actions, he had done magic outside school. He seated himself on the floor waiting for the ministry owl to come with his expulsion letter. "Get up Potter and lets try again" Snape took his wand from the floor besides Harry.

"But I used magic…outside school". "Are you trying to be dumb Potter? Of course you can use magic outside school, you're emancipated, although you didn't seem to refrain from using it when you weren't."

That was news to Harry, he hadn't thought about it. So he hastily picked himself up and before he could pick his wand, he was assaulted by Snape's legilimency. Of course Harry ended up lying on the floor clutching his head. After several assaults Snape made sure that Harry couldn't get up before leaving the room in silence.

Harry lay there on the floor cursing Snape and Dumbledore both for this. He wasn't going to take any of this again. He was going to fight back next time. And thinking that thought, Harry fainted.

The sound of the door closing woke Harry up, he flung himself on his feet, wand in hand and looked about. He was in Sirius's room, it seemed that Mrs. Weasley had just dropped him off in the room left him there. Harry knew Mrs. Weasley wasn't usually like this and wondered what lies Dumbledore had told her.

Harry knew he wouldn't be able to take any more of this, he had to escape….tonight. Harry lay in bed formulating plans of his escape and found himself drifting into a dreamless sleep. Snape's legilimency had made him wary.

Harry awoke to find himself refreshed and hungry. Lunch was laid out on the bedside table so Harry guessed it must be past lunchtime. Harry ate the lunch once again back to planning his escape.

Tonight was an Order meeting, it seemed Dumbledore had finally decided to tell everyone about Harry's emancipation and the "extra" security for him. And after some snooping around, it was confirmed that this was going to be a full fledged meeting. Harry was hoping just that to formulate the final steps of his plan.

When the Order members started to arrive after Dinner, Harry was already in the living room. Maybe it was just his luck but Mundungus Fletcher, an important person for his plan to work was already sleep. Harry quickly muttered a sleepiness charm on Mundungus hoping that he would sleep through the meeting. And a small silencing charm enough for the voice to come through but not clearly made sure that he wouldn't hear anything.

The Order meeting went as well as Harry had hoped, with Mundungus sleeping through the meeting, and nobody finding him important enough to wake him up. As Mundungus walked out of the meeting room, Harry saw Mundungus putting his finger in his ear and twisting it while someone was trying to tell him what happened. Harry canceled the charm just as the other speaker finished.

"What?" Mundungus repeated. "Never mind" the other Order member went away shaking his head. Due to the large crowd in the room, anyone rarely noticed Harry's presence. Of course the repelling charms also helped. Harry quickly approached Mundungus.

"Hey Dung". "Oh hi 'arry, did'n see ya there." Harry quickly got to business. "Ok Dung, I know you don't like greetings and neither do I. I want to make a deal. I'll give you twenty galleons to allow me to floo with you to diagon alley, you see I need to buy some stuff. And since I don't want anyone to see me, I'll be wearing my invisibility cloak. Hopefully I'll be back by midnight and nobody will even notice."

"At night? Oh well, but make that twenty-five galleons, lets go." Mundungus knew that 25 galleons was well worth the trouble, if there was any. But as the boy said, it would run smooth, after all when he was fifteen, he also used to make late night trips, but to knockturn alley. Mundungus shook his head to clear childhood memories and focus on the task.

"Not now, let Moody go as he can see through my cloak. Dumbledore probably can but he has already left. And there goes Moody." Harry hurried upstairs, shrunk his trunk and broomstick, put them in his pocket and was back under the cloak in less than five minutes. He gave Mundungus a nudge in the back. "lets go" he whispered.

They appeared at the leaky cauldron. "I'll wait for you here Harry and make sure you come back before midnight." Mundungus said in a hoarse whisper. While Mundungus ordered a brand new firewhisky with the galleons Harry had gave him, Harry slipped out but not towards Diagon Alley, towards Muggle London.

The wind was blowing hard at night but Harry maneuvered his way on his firebolt perfectly, and the sensations of once again being free going through him. This would be the beginning of something new, something better. Unheard by anyone, Harry let out the first signs of laughter in many days.

**A/N: Reviews please, I was expecting more but oh well :( **

**Anyways expect the next chapter by Sunday (only if I get some reviews) And in next chapter we'll see Harry settling alone, and itching for revenge, he'll come across someone who'll get the first tastes of the new Harry. Till then Enjoy!**


	5. A New Beginning

**A/N: Ok so the fifth chapter is up. I was happy to see some reviews and so I decided to post it on Saturday night (although technically its 1 am and so its Sunday). Thanks to my sister for rereading it and giving me some(some!) suggestions. This is my first fanfic so I really don't know what part to go into detail and what part to skip, I hope you'll forgive me for that. **

**This AN is getting quite long, so before I go I request you all (especially the 65 people who have me on alert) to review, so don't forget to R&R. On to the story now: **

**Chapter 5 : A New Beginning**

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An hour passed until Harry realized that he had nowhere to go, he had simply flown in whichever direction the wind took him but now he needed a place to stay. The night had grown cold and Harry started to shake from the cold wind. Quickly muttering a charm to keep himself warm, Harry stopped to get his bearings.

Harry decided that the best place to go would be the place where it all started, Godric's Hollow.

Harry sighed as he entered Godric's Hollow, memories of his parents last moments that he saw once dementors were near him once again flooding his mind. Harry circled the ruin until he found his parents grave.

Harry knelt besides his parent's grave and touched both of them at the same time. Tears had started coming out of his eyes. He found an anger building up inside him reminding him of all that had been taken away from him, he screamed at the top of his lungs. The scream woke up several households nearby, but in the darkness of the night, all ignored it but they all could feel that something in the night was different.

Far away in a place unknown to even its inhabitants save one, their leader, Voldemort was sitting alone in his throne room thinking of a new strategy, when he felt something. He felt pure anger and power unlike anything he had felt before.

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Harry awoke to find he was asleep on the grass between the two graves. Harry once again found himself filling with emotion but he shook his head and cleared his mind. The past was gone and he should now look towards the future.

Harry started to search inside the ruins of Godric's Hollow. He found that the basement was still intact, which contained a guest room with attached bathroom and a store room. There were still lots of crates in the storeroom. It seemed that his parents hadn't got to much unpacking, probably because they were too busy hiding. He vowed that he wouldn't hide, as soon as he was ready, he would go openly.

But he wasn't ready yet, and he needed to be ready if he was to survive. Harry found lots of books in the crates, as his parents had been aurors, they had a lots of defensive spell books, he also found lots of charms books as his mother was fond of charms. Harry wondered if life would've been different had his parents, or godfather for that matter had still been alive.

Harry spent the rest of the day reading books on charms. His mothers own charms notebooks were also there and they helped immensely. He only went out twice, for lunch and for dinner to a muggle restaurant nearby. Of course he changed his appearance before he went out as he knew that Dumbledore would be out everywhere. He also planned to read up on wards, and if needed to stay safe, he would need to ward Godric's Hollow. Harry doubted they'd find him here, after all he was in the basement of a ruin and nobody would suspect him living here.

It was night time and using some of the new charms he had learned he managed to fix his surroundings a bit. First he cleaned the walls and furniture of dust. Then he applied a black and green theme to the walls and furniture. The contrast was perfect. He added light green glowing bulbs on the roof tops. There was no sunlight down here and he needed none.

Harry guessed that he would need some company around here as Hedwig hadn't come with him. Harry hadn't thought of Hedwig but guessed that it was better this way. Ron and Hermione would keep her well fed and she would've attracted too much attention had she come with him. And after Hedwig, a snake would be a better pet, especially due to the fact that he could talk to it. And since a snake wasn't human and couldn't betray him, it was probably the perfect company.

Harry slept peacefully that night, the feeling of being free giving him peace at heart. But he knew that he wasn't still safe. The next day Harry started searching for a book on wards and he soon acknowledged that warding was a difficult subject. But after continuous dedication of over a week, Harry was finally starting to get a grasp of the subject. The first time Harry checked for wards around Godric's Hollow, Harry found quite a few wards there besides the remains of a broken fidelius charm. Harry strengthened the wards with a few of his own that he had learned.

After two more weeks studying wards and charms and applying most of them on his surroundings, he had completely hidden the entrance to the basement from anyone save him, he had placed an anti-apparation ward, a muggle repelling charm and a few others. He had also found the floo functional and after a few protecting charms, none except him could access it. Though it cost him a few drops of blood to get that last bit functional.

After assuring that he was completely safe in his surroundings Harry started reading what he had been waiting to read, Defensive books, he also planned to read the dark arts but due to unavailability of that he settled for defensive books, although they contained quite a few offensive spells but not as deadly as the dark arts. The most deadly curse was the cutting curse, but unlike the others, this could, when placed correctly kill a person instantly. When it went through the heart, the neck or the head a person would die instantly. Harry spent quite a number of times practicing that spell, making it more powerful and accurate. The spell wasn't authorized to anyone other then ministry aurors but Harry didn't care, survival was first and foremost.

A month passed by and Harry still hadn't left Godric's Hollow, except for occasional visits to muggle restaurants. He had learnt quite a few spells in defense as well as offense. He had recently learned a new kind of block, the _fortus block. _It placed an invisible shield around the person which acted like a fortress. Once placed perfectly, the shield would remain around the person, automatically connecting to his magical core which would provide the required magical energy. So the person involved would then be free to use other spells. It was also included in the book that the founder of the auror department had created the spell. And that nobody had since then perfected the shield. Dumbledore was rumored to have perfected the shield but he had not commented. Harry had practiced three days, day and night but had still not perfected it.

Harry knew he couldn't delay a trip to diagon alley any longer. He had to get his supplies for his new school year. He had planned to attend Hogwarts to show Dumbledore that he wasn't going to hide. Harry knew he wouldn't be receiving the school list due to the protective charm to repel owls as owls could be tracked. He also wondered what his OWL results would be and planned to buy books for each subject. After all it wouldn't be a waste and if he couldn't apply for NEWTS, he could always study them himself.

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Harry woke up to find himself refreshed. A quick charm to conjure breakfast and he was almost ready. He climbed out of the basement to find it was raining. Perfect! He thought he'd be less likely noticed. Harry had found a dusty grey robe in the basement with a large hood last night. Harry thought to leave the dust on it, it would tell the passerby's not to mess with him. Although he was itching to use the spells he had learned, he wasn't one to start the trouble.

Harry decided to floo to the Leaky Couldron. At least this time he wouldn't mind the extra layer of soot that covered him. Harry had lowered the hood so as to completely conceal his face. Harry's first purchases were simply his school supplies. He ignored the queer looks people were giving him.

In Flourish & Blotts Harry also purchased extra books that he found interesting. Some of these were related to Dark Arts, but he knew that the real books on Dark Arts would be found in Knockturn Alley. He also bought a book on Occlumency, he decided it was better to keep his mind safe. The last book he decided to buy was about apparating, sometimes, he would mind the layer of soot and there were also places that couldn't be accessed by floo. Like with the rest of his purchases, Harry enlarged his newly bought trunk and put all his books in it. He closed the trunk, shrunk it and once again put it in his pocket.

His next stop was Magical Menagerie and as he was quickly striding towards it something bumped against his shoulder. He turned around to see a blond boy hitting the ground. It was none other than his nemesis at school, Draco Malfoy. One side of Harry just wanted to curse the boy right there, but the smarter side got the better of him, it wasn't worth the trouble and besides, there would be lots of opportunities at school.

Draco Malfoy on the other hand was not happy. The hooded guy wasn't wearing a black robe so it couldn't be a death eater, he thought. "Hey you!" Malfoy called after the hooded person. The person didn't turn around and was walking away. This angered Malfoy even more.

Harry barely heard the incantation for the reductor curse and he was around, shield up in a moment. The reductor curse bounced off the strong shield. Now he was asking for it, and Harry could hold his anger off no longer. He walked towards Malfoy, a disarming charm sent Malfoy flying another yard backwards, Harry now had Malfoy's wand in his hand. He threw it down and stepped on it breaking it into two pieces. Harry aimed a hex at Malfoy's leg, and the leg from below the knee split open, the bone was clearly visible and a small crack was also noticeable. Malfoy was yelling like mad, blood was pouring on the ground mixing with the puddles of water that the rain was making.

Harry looked around to see that the street was deserted. Darkness had started to engulf the sky. Malfoy's cries were bound to make the shop keepers look out in the street but the howling wind had drowned them. Harry looked down again to see that Malfoy was gone. _Till we meet again Malfoy._

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Harry entered Magical Menagerie soaked but a charm later he was dry completely. Harry made his way over to the reptilian section. There were snakes of all kinds but he wanted something special and not just any snake.

The shopkeeper was surprised to see a customer in this weather. "Hello sir, how may I help you?" he asked in a cheery voice. Harry glared at him and although the shopkeeper couldn't see his face, he kept his distance, "I'll leave you to look around and select for yourself then" the shopkeeper said as he strolled off towards the counter.

Harry started speaking with some snakes in low voices. Some were simply excited that he could speak with them, He excluded those. Finally Harry found a snake, that wasn't over excited, didn't think about food that much and wasn't hilarious. It was a black cobra with a green stripe running along his back and splitting into two behind his head. Its shiny black scales emitted a light of their own. The cobra was simply captivating.

Harry walked out of the shop fifteen minutes later, a cobra wrapped around his waist hidden under his robe. The shopkeeper had been, to say the least, shocked. Not even the captor of the snake could handle it while it was awake. The snake's venom had no anti-venom and a single bite could instantly kill a person. And yet this young man had wrapped the snake around his waist, but the shopkeeper wasn't complaining, what with the amount of galleons he had received. _A holiday to France would be nice._ And with that thought, he closed the shop and headed home happily.

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Harry settled into a routine at home, Godric's Hollow to be specific. He knew he had to find a better place to live but it was enough for this summer. In the morning he practiced charms, transfigurations in the afternoon, Defensive and Offensive spells in the evening and potions in the night. He also practiced occlumency every night before sleep.

Harry had named the cobra "Sable". Sable had been a comfort, obeying his master's wishes without question and in return Harry gave him freedom, freedom that the snake envied. Harry knew what it was like to be captured. Sable gave him reports of the surroundings, of any wizards around the area. Besides that Sable also gave Harry suggestions as Harry had often discussed his plans with Sable.

Harry soon found out that although Sable valued the freedom he was given, he was fiercely loyal to him. And he preferred to remain with Harry as he said so himself, when Harry had once offered him complete freedom.

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**A/N: Okay that's it for now, I tried to write a larger chapter. My next chapters will hopefully be as large if not larger. Next chapter : Harry returns to Hogwarts!**

**How will his "friends" react? What will Dumbledore do? What are his OWLS? And Dumbledore berates himself _"Where did I go wrong?" _:P. Till then Enjoy!**


	6. Joining the War

**A/N: I was really disappointed in the amount of reviews I got, but oh well, I simply can't abandon the story no matter what. ;) Anyways, I'm sorry but Harry won't be returning to Hogwarts in this chapter. But due to a great idea I got in the bathroom, I decided to give this story a new twist. I might be changing the Summary of the story a bit too. Enjoy**

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**CHAPTER 6: Joining the war**

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It was a fine Sunday morning and Harry Potter was sitting besides his parents graves. He hadn't visited them in a long time but today emotion was overwhelming him for no reason at all. Sable was circling around apparently sensing his master's distress and giving him space.

His return to Hogwarts was close and with that, his return to being the boy-who-lived again. He was seriously beginning to doubt if going back to Hogwarts would be a good thing as it would once again place him into the war he had so carefully avoided until now. He had no news of what death eaters were doing and to put it simply hadn't cared.

But going back to Hogwarts or not, he would have to be a part of the war, he was destined to be a part of the war. After all, only he could kill Voldemort and on the other hand, Voldemort taking over would make matters much worse. So it was settled, he had no choice whether or not to take part in the war, but then arose another problem.

He couldn't fight the war alone, there is no such thing as a one man army in a war. He would have to choose sides. Voldemort's side was out as he would eliminate all threats to him. Joining the Order of Phoenix would once again make him Dumbledore's puppet. The Aurors and Ministry were under a lunatic and were incapable. That left only one option, he would form his own group and they would fight under him.

But where to find the people, Harry was lost in thought. _Master, what are you thinking…… _Sable asked him. _I'm thinking of a way to gather people to fight for me. _Sable was also slithering now in what appeared to be a tense way. It seemed as though he was thinking. _Master, I could gather serpents to fight for you……. _Harry smiled at his first real friend after his escape, _That would be helpful Sable, but I still need wizards._

At that moment Harry heard a huge blast from a few blocks away. Harry quickly put on the grey robe he had worn to Diagon Alley and wand in hand went to search for the source of the noise. Harry arrived just in time to see five black robed hooded figures circled around a lone figure who was on the ground, twitching in pain. In the background a house was burning and the Dark Mark was hovering above the house.

Harry immediately perceived what was happening and started towards the circled black robed figures. Harry blasted the man in front who had his back to him in pieces with a single curse. He had learned from experience to show no mercy to the deatheaters. Now that he had the deatheaters attention, he put up his strongest shield yet, the Fortus Block. The deatheaters were firing curse after curse but the shield was thankfully blocking them all. The unforgivables, Harry simply dodged.

Harry was now putting all his power into the shield, his plan was to exhaust them and then go into the offense himself but at this rate he probably might have exhausted himself. That is until Harry felt something connect with him, deeply as if touching his magical core. An evil grin crossed Harry's lips which was viewable just beneath the hood to the two deatheaters who were advancing towards him.

They hesitated confused, but that was all they did before they were thrown with such force backwards that they crashed into the burning house. The house already weak from burning so much fell down upon the deatheaters after such an impact.

The remaining two deatheaters renewed their curse throwing out of fear rather than anything else but Harry was advancing quickly. A neatly placed cutting hex and one of them had his neck have cut. He died before his body reached the ground. The other deatheater seeing the scene fled in terror.

The deatheaters had put anti-apparation wards on the house, Harry felt, so their victim must have been a wizard. The remaining deatheater was running wildly trying to clear the wards to apparate away. But just before he could place his final step on the street, an enormous cobra emerged from the bushes and sank his fangs right where his heart would have been. The deatheater died instantly.

Now Harry turned his attention towards the victim of the deatheater attack who was confused as to who was his savior. The man got to his feet instantly, even though he had suffered torture at the hands of the deatheater. "Thanks" he muttered. He was a young man in his mid-twenties. He was quite tall but also had some muscle on him. The young man turned to stare at Harry. "Did Dumbledore send you?"

"No", Harry answered roughly. Harry turned to leave but the man was following him. "Who are you?" the man questioned this time. "Not safe here, follow me", Harry took the man to a muggle restaurant. Even if other deatheaters did appear, they wouldn't go looking in a muggle restaurant. Meanwhile, Sable had after ensuring that his master was safe returned to Godric's Hollow.

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"You could at least raise your hood so I can see your face" the man named Roland Phillmore told Harry. They were sitting in a muggle restaurant and the man had introduced himself. He was an auror in training who had lived alone after his parents had been killed by Voldemort. He thought that Voldemort was trying to lessen the aurors by killing those in training as they were more vulnerable.

"Why did you ask if I was sent by Dumbledore?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time since arriving in the restaurant. "er..Do you know about the Order of the Phoenix?" Roland seemed nervous. "Yes". Roland seemed relieved by the answer, he thought he should reveal his alliance to this strange person as this person had just saved his life.

"I'm a member of it and I just thought Dumbledore would send someone to help me." Harry started laughing at that. Roland was confused, why was this person laughing. "Whose side are you on?" Roland countered. "Nobody's, I walk my own path, a path to ending this war once and for all." Harry replied.

"But that's what the Order of Phoenix is doing" Roland was starting to think that this person, whoever he was, was crazy. "Tell me then, Roland, has the Order ever sent you to attack the deatheaters, have you ever attacked a deatheater base, have you ever sent a search party to even find Voldemort's headquarters. The order is weak, they are just buying time, delaying Voldemort's return to power. Rarely anybody knows what the Order is, they don't show their allegiance in the open, which at least the deatheaters do."

"What other option do we have, the ministry is weak and filled with corrupted officials." Roland was getting tense. "Join me" Harry joked. "Ok, since I owe my life to you anyways, I will. And since Dumbledore didn't protect me, and I had to see the house of my ancestors burn, I sure as hell wouldn't be going back there." Roland was angry at Dumbledore. Now it was Harry's turn to be tense.

Harry started thinking, maybe this could be the start of the group he had been planning. But he had planned to start it at Hogwarts. But this was better, way better. "Meet me here at this time in a week." That would be the day before his departure to Hogwarts and by then Harry planned to get some more people.

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For the next week, Harry spent every night flying over muggle London, in his invisibility cloak. Wherever he spotted any deatheater activity he tried to rescue the people. And if they were wizards, Harry offered them a chance to join him. He told them all to meet him in that muggle restaurant where he had first met Roland.

Of course, the wizards the deatheaters were after were not only important people but also great wizards. He managed to save a husband and wife who were both unspeakables in the ministry, another auror in training named Stephen and much to his surprise, a newly instated deatheater, who had been caught by the few dementors still under the ministry. They were about to kiss him when Harry had arrived.

Harry didn't know how many of these people would arrive. None of them had seen Harry except in gray robes under a gray hood and in the meanwhile, Harry started working on a disguise for himself. It wouldn't do well to show up as Harry Potter. He also planned to show Sable so as to make the people sure that defying him wouldn't be nice.

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Meanwhile in Dumbledore's office:

Snape had just returned from a death eater meeting and had news for Dumbledore. "Some deatheater attacks have been intercepted by extremely powerful gray robed wizards. I'm

guessing that since the attacks were spread out across London, there would have to be more than one. Of course I could still be wrong. The dark lord has ordered us to capture whoever these are or is."

"This seems to be an interesting turn of events Severus. It seems we have a new competitor in the battlefield. It would be to our advantage to make an alliance with however this competitor is."

Dumbledore was quietly contemplating whoever these new people were. "No news from Potter yet?" Snape asked. "I'm afraid nothing but a note that he would be attending Hogwarts." Dumbledore once again started to think signaling that Snape was dismissed.

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Harry was quietly sitting in a corner. It was the right day and time. His face was once again covered under a hood. He smiled when he saw that those he had invited had all come. They started sitting around the table Harry had occupied, looking at each other with confused looks. No one dared speak for everyone had seen Harry's temper and power.

Harry abruptly got up once they were all settled. "Follow me"

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**A/N: Ok next chapter : We'll get more info on what Harry plans to do with his group and of course, return to Hogwarts.**

**On to more important matters (for me at least), please people, review. I mean, I could do with some suggestions every once in a while. After all the trouble I go through to update so fast, you could at least review. (ok that was enough begging for reviews :P)**


	7. Action & Return

**A/N: Really guys (and gals) you should consider this a treat. I'm posting it on Wednesday night. author rises to imaginative claps from the stadium. Ok, I will need some suggestions as to the name of Harry's Group. I have "Ophidian Brotherhood" in mind. If you have something better in mind plz tell me. **

**Like always Enjoy!**

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**CHAPTER 7: Action & Return**

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Harry led them to Godric's Hollow at which Roland spoke up. "This is Godric's Hollow isn't it, the potters used to live here". "Yes but not anymore. It's as safe as any especially with the warding I've done here." Harry led them all through into the ruins to the middle of a still stand sitting room. Harry had done some cleanup here and a large round table stood in the middle.

"Take a seat" They all seated themselves around the table and Harry decided to lower his hood. There sat a man with a rough face and many scars on it but the face was still square and handsome. The hair was still black but silky and combed perfectly. The person's eyes were a blazing emerald green (Harry decided to keep his green eyes). Harry had taken the appearance from a muggle magazine. Some muggle cream had also perfectly concealed his scar which couldn't be done so with magic.

"You can call me Lord Artemis or simply Lord as I will be your leader. Harry stared at each and every one of them to see if anyone challenged it but they all acknowledged by nodding their heads. To those of you that might be wondering, this is not my real face, you have yet to earn that trust. First of all I will bond us to secrecy, if you want to leave, now is the last chance you'll ever get."

Harry performed an old charm which would bond a group of people to secrecy with their leader. However their needs to be some connection between them (like the dark mark) but since they all owed Harry their lives, a connection was already there. For a few minutes Harry incanted in Latin and then a green light spread from the tip of his wand and engulfed them all in it, all of them took out their wands and swore of secrecy and loyalty to their leader. And suddenly the light vanished, the charm complete.

"Lord Artemis, how will we know it is you if we don't know who the real you is." Roland spoke up. "Ah, well you will see that Sable will be with me most of the times. You have seen him Roland but the others have not." _Come to me Sable. _Harry called to his cobra. The other people in the room were all dumbstruck. Their leader was a parselmouth. Sable emerged and after wrapping himself around his masters body, stuck his head from behind his shoulders.

Harry thought to himself that intimidation and fear would ensure that his secrets are never leaked. They would learn to fear him more than Voldemort yet respect him like Dumbledore.

"Lord, since we are unspeakables, you realize that we can't tell you any of the ministry secrets." The woman spoke unsurely. "I want none of their bloody secrets. It is not why I saved your life or invited you here."

"Now I have my first assignment prepared for you, it seems we'll be giving Voldemort something to think about." Harry paused. "I've received information that the Deatheaters have been ordered to attack Madam Bones, an important figure in the ministry. They plan to kill her relatives and capture her." As Harry spoke, nobody dared question where he got this information. And he didn't want to admit that he got it from a pretty painful nightmare from Voldemort.

Harry took out five gray robes from under the table and tossed them on the table. Each of the robes had a black cobra emblazoned on its back. Harry's also had a cobra but with light green touches so it looked absolutely stunning in the nightlight. Harry had personally gone to buy these new robes and even replaced his dirty one. "The robes are charmed with a charm so that no one will recognize your face even if you lower your hood. They will be able to see it clearly though none will recognize it. But still you will not lower your hoods unless absolutely necessary." Harry started giving out orders.

They were all eager to start on the mission and quickly replaced their previous robes. Harry knew that if he were to expand the group, he would have to make it more organized and possibly even have a name.

Harry took out a portkey and shortly after they were all transported to a location near the Bones house.

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"Lord Artemis, there are aurors present but they seem to be losing badly. Anti-apparation, anti-portkey and anti-floo wards are present. There seem to be a total of eight deatheaters dealing with the three or four aurors outside the house, as for the inside I don't know." the deatheater named Sid was sent as a scout by Harry to get information.

"We will go now, first clean the outside and then head inside. You are ordered to kill the deatheaters freely, you are to stun or incapacitate the aurors but not kill them. Sid, cover us from behind. After we're done, we will head back here and portkey back to HQ." That said Harry made his way, the unspeakables named Laura and Simon on his left side and Roland and Stephen on his right. Sid was covering from behind turning his head at every sound.

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Susan was watching outside from the window, her aunt had locked her in her room and was facing two deatheaters inside the house. She knew there was no chance that the aurors or even her aunt would be able to take down ten deatheaters. And these weren't just normal new recruits, something told her that these deatheaters belonged to Voldemort's inner circle.

If only she could go down and fight with her aunt. Susan was frustrated and started looking out the window again. They were doomed for sure, that is until she saw five hooded figures in gray robes approach.

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Five blasting curses at a time produced a tremor in the ground. The deatheaters were shaken and so were the aurors. Sid stunned an auror lying away from the battlefield.

Simon and Laura were handling four of the deatheaters. After intense competition, where Laura got her shoulder cut by a cutting hex three of the deatheaters lie dead, one had a cut through where his heart was supposed to be, another had his hand on his neck, his lungs were incapacitated and the last was lying there in a pool of blood. The last one had broken bones all over his body but was still lying there alive. He would soon join his dead friends. One among those killed was Fernir Greyback. Unspeakables were a lot more than what they seemed.

Harry had turned his attention to the four deatheaters heading towards the house. They were surprised to be thrown backwards violently. A flick of his wand and one of them was thrown into the air, he landed hardly on the house pavement and split his head open. The other three were throwing curse after curse at Harry who put up a shield. Most of their spells were being deflected by the shield so they changed tactics. Two of them walked in a wide arc and were on both of Harry's sides, but the time it took for that, the front deatheater was lying on the ground screaming his head off. Harry knew he would soon lose his head, with the curse that Harry had tried. It was a very dark curse, something he had picked up from the black library in Grimmauld Place. The two were on either sides and both fired the killing curse straight at Harry. With an amazing show of reflexes, Harry jumped backwards, to see one of them being hit by the killing curse, but the other had avoided it. Harry wasted no time in a cutting hex which went straight through his torso.

Meanwhile, Roland and Stephen had stunned the remaining two remaining aurors who had managed to put up quite a fight. But they were both lying there stunned, one without a leg and the other without an arm. The stunner stopped the blood from escaping so they were in no immediate danger. Simon had healed Laura and by the time Harry reached the doorstep, his group was behind him, relatively unscathed.

Harry opened the door to see Malfoy and Nott pointing their wands at Amelia Bones's throat. Two spells were shot from behind him and Malfoy and Nott found themselves on the floor with strong binding charms upon them. Harry put up his hand to stop from killing them. Harry walked forwards until he was right above Nott. Harry first fired two cutting hexes and cut both of his legs off, completely. Nott was screaming in pain. Harry kicked him strongly in the ribs and killed him with a cutting hex on his neck.

Harry turned his attention to Malfoy. He disarmed him and cut his wand in pieces. "Like father, like son" Harry smirked at Malfoy. "Tell your master, Lord Artemis sends his greetings." Harry released the binding and Malfoy was seen running until he crossed the barriers and apparated.

"Who a-are y-you?" Amelia asked, obviously scared by the experience. Harry gave her no heed, turned on his heal and headed towards the exit, his group in tow.

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Harry and his group were back in Godric's Hollow in their meeting room. "That went well. The ministry, Dumbledore and Voldemort will all be baffled. They will probably be awaiting another attack. Meet me here after a fortnight. Till then keep low profiles and try to find trusting and loyal people to join our group. You are to keep these robes" Harry waved his wand and all the robes turned to beautiful and expensive looking robes. "Consider this a present. Wear these robes to the next meeting. You are dismissed."

After thanking Harry, soon they all left. Harry let out a sigh of relief. Tomorrow he would be returning to Hogwarts.

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_**Grey robed wizards: Allies or Enemies**_

_**It** is reported that yesterday night, there was an attack at the residence of Ms. Amelia Bones, Head of Magical Law Enforcement. There were ten deatheaters present who easily got past the defenses which included, three full fledged aurors. Two of the deatheaters were about to kill Madam Bones when five gray robed wizards appeared, these wizards ruthlessly killed the deatheaters and even harmed the aurors. Though after making sure the deatheaters were gone, their leader led them away._

_**They** were all gray robed and hooded, they also had serpents painted on the back of their robes. Though serpents are said to be the sign of Dark Wizards such as You-Know-Who himself, it is still uncertain whether these wizards are our allies or enemies. _

_**According** to insider information, the ministry has ordered Arrest warrants for these people. But are they really evil, if so then why are they killing deatheaters?_

Harry smiled when he read the day's paper. He then threw the paper into the trash and began preparing for breakfast and also packing for Hogwarts.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry passed through the barrier to get to platform 9 ¾. He could see Hogwarts students everywhere, with their parents bidding them goodbyes. Harry made his way through the crowd until he saw Hermione coming towards him. "Harry". As soon as she got close to him, she received a minimal shock. "I'm not your friend anymore Hermione." Harry walked off. He also encountered a glaring and cursing Ron after sometime but made it safely through to the Hogwarts Express.

Harry got himself an empty compartment, he locked and warded the door and settled down to read. Harry realized that the train was stopping after a while. Getting into his robes he exited to find that they had approached Hogwarts.

Harry got into a carriage in which Susan Bones was also present. "Hello Harry" she exclaimed. "Hello" she received a neutral reply. "Will you be starting the DA again this year?" The experience with the deatheaters had left her wanting to train herself.

"Maybe" Harry was thinking whether the DA would be a good place to gather followers. He was jostled out of these thoughts by the carriage stopping. Harry stepped into the great hall to find most of the professors staring at him. It seems they had all been notified of Harry's run-away. Harry seated himself on the Gryffindor table away from most of his classmates. _Oh God, how will I survive in Gryffindor._

After the usual sorting and lunch, Dumbledore got up, "I have some start of term notices, The forbidden forest is quite clearly forbidden. We should also give a warm welcome to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Auror Tonks. She will be taking classes of up to fifth years while higher levels will be taken by our Potions Master, Professor Snape. As Professor Snape has stated, he finds quite enough time even after being the Potions master so I have assigned him the job. I hope you all will make it easy for him to adjust." Dumbledore gave a mischievous smile at that.

_Oh great, another problem_. Harry was starting to get up before the head of Gryffindor house reached him. "Mr. Potter, the headmaster would like to speak with you." _Make that two other problems._

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**A/N: Okay people I need feedback. Also let me know if you would like romance (Harry/Susan) in it. Although since this is a Harry!Dark story, I don't plan on any (but there is no telling what a good number of reviews may do).  
Onto matters I'd rather not discuss, though its important: REVIEWS PLEASE! **


	8. Hogwarts

**A/N: Sorry people, my net connection at home has been disabled cuz my exams are approaching. I'll post weekly or fortnightly from now on. Don't worry though, the chapters will be longer than ever and with even more action. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the delay. Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER 8: Hogwarts**

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"Ah. please have a seat Harry." Dumbledore stated as though there was no argument between them. "I'm sure you had quite an adventurous summer." Dumbledore continued.

"Quite" was Harry's only reply. He wasn't going to let Dumbledore manipulate him again.

"Now Harry, I won't ask you where you've been since you probably won't tell me. But if there is anything you would like to share…." Dumbledore was staring hard at Harry. Harry felt a strong presence in his mind. He put up his strongest occlumency shields. Dumbledore stumbled a bit before shaking his head.

"Would you like to explain what the hell you were doing in my mind?" Harry asked, barely controlling his temper. "Merely testing your occlumency Harry" Dumbledore always had an answer.

"Does that mean I wont be having any more occlumency lessons?" Harry asked. "I'm afraid you will have to show your progress to professor Snape. _Payback time. _Harry grinned, "Of course professor. Anything else you would like to discuss?"

"I was wondering if you know something about this." Dumbledore pushed the daily prophet towards him where his group had covered the front page. "Ah yes, Lord Artemis was quite hospitable". Harry had purposefully meant to keep Dumbledore thinking.

"I also require a favor professor." Harry continued. Now that he had Dumbledore thinking, he had control over the conversation. "I would like separate accommodation for me. I've become used to living alone." Harry pressed.

"I'm afraid that's unacceptable" Dumbledore denied Harry his request. But Harry had already known Dumbledore would say so, "Just don't blame me when trouble arises." Harry retorted.

Dumbledore seemed to think for a minute before changing the topic. "Harry wouldn't you like to know your owls? You've done quite remarkably; I wish to know which subjects you would like to take." Dumbledore handed Harry a sheet of parchment.

_OWL-Ordinary Wizarding Levels_

_Harry James Potter has achieved:_

_Astronomy-E_

_Care Of Magical Creatures-O_

_Charms-O_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts-O_

_Divination-E_

_Herbology-O_

_History Of Magic-E_

_Potions-O_

_Transfiguration-O_

Harry was shocked to see such outstanding results, they were almost unreal. Harry glanced up and saw Dumbledore looking at him expectantly. _Now I get it old man, you thought that by giving me great owl results you could win me over. _

"I'll take Charms, DADA, and Transfiguration." Before Dumbledore could utter another word, Harry was already out of his office.

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As Harry entered the common room, everyone went silent. Harry made his way to the dormitory door. "Since you all like silence so much, let me help you." Harry said. Before entering Harry muttered a spell and waved his wand in a wide arc. Suddenly all the students present in the room found their lips stuck firmly together. Harry smirked and went up the stairs.

He found Ron sitting on his four poster bed. "What are you doing here?" Ron exclaimed as Harry entered. "I sleep here moron." Harry answered. Ron was suddenly up wand in hand and in front of Harry. "First you upset Hermione and now this, I wont let you get away with this!"

"Watch it there Weasley, if that wand doesn't go down in five seconds, you'll regret ever pulling it out." Harry said his face a mask of indifference. When Ron still didn't put his wand down, Harry took his out and with a simple swish, Ron had his hands and legs tied. Another swish and his mouth was glued together. Another swish and he was hanging upside down in thin air. Harry had long since mastered non-verbal spells. He decided that he wasn't sleepy.

Harry took out his invisibility cloak and vanished under it. Ron found himself dragged to the common room still hanging upside down. Harry restored everybody's mouths so they could laugh. Ron looked embarrassed and angry but Harry didn't care. And before anybody could notice, Harry was out of the common room and into the hallways.

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Harry made his way down to the front doors and he was out. He looked around for a while before finally deciding his destination. He walked all the way to the edge of the forbidden forest. The light in Hagrid's hut was on telling him that Hagrid was there. He knew that Hagrid would be loyal to Dumbledore. The old man had done the half-giant too many favors. Harry didn't have the time to ponder over Dumbledore's intentions as he soon found himself in darkness.

Not even the moonlight reached here in this part of the forbidden forest. Casting a lumos charm Harry made his way forward.

_Master _

_Ah Sable, how have you been?_

Harry had ordered Sable to stay in the forbidden forest. He would transfer him to the Chamber of Secrets as soon as he was able to.

_Impatient, Master_

_I want you to look in the forest for other snakes. It would be an advantage for us to have them in our alliance._

_Yes Master_

_On the other hand, have you thought of finding a mate yet?_

Harry laughed as Sable turned pale, if the expression could even be applied to a snake.

_Just kidding sable. _Harry added.

He laughed again, it was the part of him that still remained human, still pure. Harry vowed that night never to let the darkness override him. He knew that darkness was powerful, but it wouldn't do to lose your mind in it. He would use it but always keep it in check.

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The sunlight finally broke through as a tree branch moved aside and cast a ray of light on the face of a teenager sleeping under a tree. Harry awoke to find his glasses on his face askew. He made a mental note to do something about this. For now he needed to get back to the castle.

Harry looked around and found Sable sitting on the branch of a tree. The cobra's head was in the air looking one way then another.

_Have you been up all night Sable?_

_Master, it was unsafe for you._

Now, Harry was determined to transfer Sable to the Chamber of Secrets as soon as possible.

Harry made his way out of the forest to find the grounds were completely empty. The sun was just emerging from behind the forbidden forest. The faint drops of dew on the grass were starting to fade away as sunlight hit them. _Good, at least I wont be late for classes. Wait, its Sunday!_

Harry entered the great hall and saw that a few of the teachers were having breakfast. Unfortunately for him Snape and Dumbledore were amongst them. Just as Harry was about to sit down, he saw through the corner of his eye, a figure approaching.

"Mr. Potter" Snape suddenly came into view. Oh how much he wished he could curse him right there. "Yes" Harry turned around, leaving out the "sir" intentionally. "You will come to my office after breakfast for your occlumency lessons." Snape stalked off before Harry could reply.

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After having a lengthy breakfast to make sure he was on Snape's nerves, Harry went down to the dungeons. Harry knocked on the door and after hearing a short "enter", entered. The office was as it had been last year, with Snape tormenting him every single time he was here. Hopefully today he'd make a good memory for himself even if it wasn't going to be a good one for Snape, fortunately.

"You may defend yourself with any means possible…Legilimens" And Snape was in Harry's mind again. Harry wanted to make the most of this so he prepared, what was described in a book of occlumency as, a mind trap. Focusing his occlumency shields to keep Snape trapped in his mind Harry took out his wand.

On the other hand Snape's eyebrows shot up in recognition. He knew what a mind trap was and that it was dangerous enough to damage a person's mind permanently. He tried to cut off his legilimency, but he could even blink let alone break eye contact. He was successfully trapped.

"Oh professor, your in my mind, what will I do to get you out? Oh yeah you said to apply any means possible" Harry mocked Snape. He saw fear cross Snape's eyes and his satisfaction was half complete there. The other half was completed by a few bone shattering, stinging and pain curses. Some of the curses "accidentally" went stray and hit Snape's shelves. In a few moments, Snape's whole office was a mess, bottles that used to contained valuable potions, now empty and broken on the floor, books torn open and best of all, Snape on the ground in front of him, bleeding but still staring at him, his eyes just about to burst.

Harry laughed as he opened the mind trap and Snape fainted. _That ought to teach him not to mess with me again. _Harry brushed dirt from his cloak and was out in a moment. Exhausted from the ordeal, Harry checked his watch to see it was almost lunch time.

Taking a long walk around the castle, Harry finally ended up in the great hall. Children were gossiping everywhere, it was an aura of excitement. The slytherins looked glum. _News does travel fast. _Harry smirked before sitting down on the Gryffindor table far from his house mates.

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Meanwhile, Dumbledore was staring hard at Harry Potter who was eating his lunch calmly as if nothing had happened. There was something different about Harry Potter and Dumbledore could feel it.

How that boy had landed Snape in the hospital wing, Dumbledore was still uncertain. He had tried to probe Snape's mind but found that it was in delicate condition. And any interference would be devastating.

Dumbledore sat there thinking, completely ignoring his fresh lunch. _How am I to punish Harry, I can't expel him, that would lead him to return to Lord Artemis. I asked Severus to probe his mind harder than before to find more information, but that back lashed with severe consequences. And Severus will throw a tantrum when he wakes up. Knowing his temper, he might even kill the kid. _

_I need to talk with Harry, and seriously too._

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Harry saw Dumbledore get up from his seat and make his way towards him. Harry tried to keep himself from smirking at Dumbledore as he gently touched his shoulder. "Meet me in my office after lunch Harry". Dumbledore left soon after saying that.

The whole hall was quiet as Dumbledore asked Harry to meet him in his office. They had all heard stories of how Snape was in the hospital, but no one knew who was responsible for it. Now that the twins were gone, no one had any idea. But seeing the scene unfold in front of them, they got all the confirmation they needed regarding who was responsible.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry was sitting in front of Dumbledore in Dumbledore's office. He waited quietly looking amused as Dumbledore described Snape's condition. Harry caught some words like "hanging between life and death" but ignored the rest.

"Now, I know it has something to do with you Harry, what have you got to say for yourself?" Dumbledore ended his speech.

"Really professor, Snape started by saying that I could defend myself by all means possible. Then he entered my mind, I used some curses to force him out of my mind but I couldn't and then after a long time in my mind, he faded. He kept his legilimency even when I cursed him, so it's not my fault he's in the hospital wing. And then he fainted. I also swear a wizard's oath that I only cursed him once he was in my mind." Harry spoke innocently yet strongly. He did the incantation for the oath, and a green light settled on him which slowly faded.

Dumbledore, on the other hand was completely astounded. _The boy had even sworn the wizard's oath and yet Severus couldn't have had the extensive brain damage from simple legilimency. I have a feeling there is something the boy isn't telling me. I'll have to speak with Severus once he wakes up._

"You may go now Harry, you will be called later." "Thank you Professor" Harry said politely before quietly getting up and leaving the office. If he had turned around just then, he would have seen Dumbledore with a sad face, shaking his head.

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Just as Harry stepped out from the staircase, he burst out laughing. Still in a great mood, Harry planned to go to Sable and also pay a visit to the Chamber of Secrets. Any Slytherin trouble on the way would just add to his mood. In fact he was anticipating another fight.

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**A/N: Ok guys, how'd you like it. Please review. You know if it weren't for the reviewers, I'd have abandoned this story. Anyways, I've decided not to add romance to this story. Harry will have followers that adore him, but he wont love anybody. Next chapter : Another trip to the chamber of secrets and we'll just see how Harry manages his army plus their second meeting.**


	9. Consequences

**A/N: I know how it feels when someone delays a story that long and I'm really sorry. From now on I'm on vacations and I'll be constantly posting. Enjoy and expect more soon!**

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**Chapter 9 : Consequences**

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Harry covered his mouth as the doors to the chamber of secrets opened. A stench was emanating from the remains of the dead basilisk. Even after so many years, the mice still hadn't decayed it completely. Using the few household cleaning spells he knew, Harry soon removed the stench and banished the body to one side. Sable's face appeared from inside his robes.

_Are we there yet?_

_Yep, take a look around sable and tell me what you think._

Harry himself observed his surroundings as Sable went about going through pipes.

Brilliance was still less a word for what described the chamber. He hadn't had a chance to clearly observe it last time he was here, of course no one could've done so with a basilisk at their tail.

Small flames were stationed all around the chamber, glowing a bright green which made the stone work reflect an eerie green light. The walls were imprinted with beautiful carvings of snakes. Harry made his way to particularly one of those carvings that looked similar to Sable. He ran his hand over the imprinted scales of the snake. He had never seen such detail before.

Not an art admirer though, but he still reckoned the carving to be very expensive. Add that to the eyes which were made of real green emeralds and the carving was near priceless.

As he looked around, his curiousity was aroused by a dusty old door, on which was imprinted "Slytherin". He headed towards the door and after trying a few minutes by chanting in parseltongue, he got the door to open. What Harry found inside was even beyond his wildest imagination.

A large room decorated beautifully in green was before him. There were sofa's in the middle and a green flame was still burning in the fireplace. Harry imagined that this was probably Salazar's personal chamber. To his further surprise there were doors leading from the room. Harry checked them all to find a bedroom, a potions lab and what interested him the most, a library.

The library consisted of a multitude of dark books. Harry suddenly thought that this must be where Voldemort had learned dark spells during his years at school. And maybe he,Harry could using these books study about the spells used by voldemort and counter them. Harry felt a feeling of happiness at the thought of being able to counter voldemort's spells.

Harry spent most of the day reading the books from Salazar's library. There were spells there that no matter how dark he became, Harry would never use. But there were useful spells as well. And counters to most of the spells.

Harry left the library just as Sable entered the chambers.

_How do you like your new home Sable?_

_It is excellent master, there are mice to eat and a nice big bed to sleep on, there is even an exit, which leads straight to the forbidden forest._

Curiousity once again aroused as Harry ordered Sable to show him. He followed Sable to a small door which opened by the touch of his hand. Outside the door was one of the darkest parts of the forbidden forest.

Harry made a mental note to use this exit in a fortnight when he was going to meet his group, which reminded him, his actual purpose of coming to Hogwarts was not for education. His real purpose was to gather followers.

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It was dinner time when Harry approached the great hall. Practicing all those spells in the chamber of secrets had made him hungry. He glanced at the head table and saw that Snape wasn't there, probably recovering.

Once again sitting away from most of the gryffindor table, particularly Ron who was glaring daggers at him. Harry also noticed that he had an arm around Hermione. Turning his attention away from all that, he ate a full dinner. There were more important things than finding whether Ron and Hermione are dating.

As soon as dinner was finished, Harry began to leave but was stopped by Professor McGonagall. "Mr. Potter"

"Yes Professor" he replied tiredly.

"A word in my office if you please. Follow me"

Harry started to follow the transfiguration teacher and if he had turned around then, he would have seen Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle also leave their seats, with mischevious smiles on their faces.

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"Have a seat Mr. Potter" McGonagall offered as she seated herself in her office. "As you might know, Angelina has left and so the spot for captain is open now. Since katie will be leaving in a year I think it would be better if you were made the captain." The professor said that all in one go while also taking out a badge from the drawer.

A year ago he'd have been so happy to see that badge on his chest. He'd have shown it to Sirius who would probably have said that you look just like your father the first time he wore his badge. The thought of Sirius and his father made his heart break. If Professor McGonagall hadn't been there, he wouldn't have stopped the tears in his eyes.

Once again a mixture of anger and sadness started to take over him, something he had long ago learned to control and put behind. Professor McGonagall was still holding out the badge to him.

"I'm sorry professor, but i wont be playing quidditch." Harry said in a hoarse voice. _Until I avenge Sirius's death_. He thought. He remembered the first time Sirius had come to see him play.

"Harry, you mustn't think that just because we're in a war, you can't be happy. Proffessor Dumbledore thinks that the only way to end the war is by showing love and happiness. And I know you love playing quidditch."

"I don't give a damn about this war! sometimes you have to let things you love, go, if they hurt too much. But you won't understand, so i'm sorry once again." With that and a mixture of emotions crowding his mind Harry left the room.

x-x-x-x-x

Malfoy was waiting behind a corner at the end of the corridor in the darkness so Harry couldn't see him. Harry was emotionally unstable at the moment and so didn't pay much attention as he passed the corner.

As soon as Harry had turned the corner, _Petrificus Totalus!. _Harry didn't have enough time to react and was caught into a full fledged body bind.

_Expelliarmus!_ Malfoy caught Harry's wand. Crabbe and Goyle had also emerged from behind a statue. "It's payback time Potter, don't you think" Malfoy sounded happy. Harry also noticed that Malfoy was limping. "There's nothing sweeter than revenge"

"Today i'll teach you a lesson of what the consequences are of cursing the Slytherin head of house. Crabbe! Goyle!." No matter how much he tried, Harry couldn't get himself free of the bodybind. On the other hand Crabbe and Goyle were pounding him like mad.

"Come on, I can't even here his screams." Malfoy said in frustration. He placed a silencing charm at the ends of the corridor and released just Harry's mouth from the bind.

"Feeling the pain Potter?" Malfoy taunted. "You'll pay for this Malfoy and believe me it won't just be your leg this time." Harry laughed as recognition crossed Malfoy's face. He put the bind on Harry again and signalled for Crabbe and Goyle to continue beating him.

"Hey whose there?" Ron Weasley appeared , probably on a Prefect duty. "What are you up to Malfoy?" Ron had his wand pointed straight at Malfoy. As he neared he saw the body on the ground. It was none other than Harry Potter, blood pouring down from his mouth and bruises on his forehead and neck.

Ron observed the scene and understood what had happened. His own anger at Harry took preference and he simply turned on his heels and left.

Harry vowed right there and then to make them all pay. He knew Snape would make sure they would get away with this due to his own anger with himself. They could escape from being expelled or even from being punished and Harry wouldn't care. But they wouldn't escape from him, Lord Artemis will not forgive. Harry laughed inwardly as he thought himself to be thinking like Voldemort.

Malfoy on the other hand was dumbstruck but recovered soon enough. "Well well Potter, looks like we have the whole night to finish the job now that your friend has deserted you."

Malfoy pulled back his sleeve and showed the burning dark mark right in front of Harry's face. "See this Potter, I'm a deatheater now and i am in need of practicing some spells my master taught me. Lets see how well you do against them."

Crabbe and Goyle had grabbed Harry and made him stand against the wall, Malfoy was pointing his wand straight at him. "Can't say it won't be painfull, neither will it end soon."

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**A/N: Although I don't usually put cliffhangers, I thought this one was necessary and you guys won't have to wait long for the next chapter. In the next chapter we'll see Harry attending classes and preparing for revenge. Reviews plz.**


	10. Classes

**A/N: Okay so i know the last chapter was small but with this chapter, i'm back at the normal length that i use. I was thinking of going back and re-writing the first few chapters but that would be time consuming and delay new chapters. Anyways, i'm still open for names on Harry's group. Any suggestions? As always, Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 10: Classes **

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Just as Malfoy was about to curse Harry, suddenly he started to yell and gripped his leg. Crabbe and Goyle looked around bewildered as to what had happened. Soon after they were also on the ground crutchnig their legs. Harry observed the scene with amazement. Harry noticed a snakelike figure slithering in the darkness and knew it was Sable.

As time passed Malfoy and his goons were screaming with even more intensity. Harry knew they would die soon. He knew by the fact that they weren't already dead that Sable had barely touched them. And yet even a small amount of poison had them screaming like mad. Just as their screams began to diminish none other than Proffessor Snape appeared from the corner.

"What the hell?" Proffessor Snape looked surprised. Immediately he took out his wand and did some incantations to stop the bleeding and numb the pain for his Slytherins. He levitated them all behind him and took off towards the hospital wing, intentionally leaving Harry behind. Harry knew this wasn't the last of Snape and he would still take revenge but it seems that this time he was more worried about his Slytherins.

As soon as Snape was gone, Sable slythered out of the shadows towards Harry. It took the wand in his mouth and after a lot of attempts, was successful in placing it in his hands. He had practiced a bit on non-verbal spells and could easily do simple ones. So he enervated himself and was on his feet in a second.

He decided it would be best to retreat to the chamber of secrets as he might not be able to stop himself from killing Ron in his sleep. He went straight to the potions lab and found it was still full of some of the most rarest of potions. Probably made by or stored by Voldemort. Harry checked for a healing potion that helped in recovering from physical wounds, drank it and went to the bedroom to sleep.

_Thankyou Sable _Harry whispered before drifting off to a heavy sleep.

That night Harry slept peacefully while Malfoy and his goons were awake and in pain, drinking potion after potion, hanging between life and death.

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Harry awoke as Sable was moving over his legs. _Master, sorry to wake you but it is time for your classes_

Harry got up instantly and went towards the Gryffindor common room. He had to change into new robes. He found the dormitory empty though there were still a few people in the common room. He quickly changed and headed down for breakfast. The great hall was also mostly empty. No teachers were present and only a few students were left. Harry quickly ate through a sandwitch and a glass of pumpkin juice and dashed towards the transfiguration classroom, his first subject for the day.

x-x-x-x-x

As Proffessor McGonagall was going through the roll call, she noticed Harry's absence. "Mr Weasley, where is Mr. Potter". Ron looked around and then with a smirk on his face replied. "I don't think he will make it Professor."

Just as soon as Ron had finished the doors swung open and Harry entered. Giving no reason for being late, he quickly took a seat at the back of the class.

"Very well, let us begin." As McGonagall went through a lecture of how important NEWTs were, a battle of stares ensued between Ron and Harry. Harry won in the end by pointing out that Malfoy and his goons were not here. And that you are next. Ron seemed a little scared as he turned his gaze away from Harry. Harry noticed him moving closer to Hermione. The first part of his plan had started. He planned to instill such fear in Ron, that he wouldn't take a single step without looking back.

Harry now turned to McGonagall to listen to the lesson. "Now you might be wondering whether conjuring is actually transfiguration. Who would like to tell me why conjuring falls in the field of transfiguration?" "Yes Miss Granger.."

"During the conjuring the conjurer is actually required to transfigure the object from air. Since transfiguration is the changing of an object to another, the changing of air into an object, or conjuring, falls in the field of transfiguration."

"Good. Ten points to Gryffindor."

"Now class take out your wands, I want you to concentrate on the shape and design of a quill and repeat the wand movements as shown on the board. If you do everything correctly, some of you might even be able to conjure a quill during your first lesson!" At this the Proffessor looked with a grin at Hermione Granger. Then she took out a beautiful quill and showed it to the class. "The first person to successfully conjure a quill will win this quill as a prize." The Professor looked at the quill with longing before saying "This quill is one of my finest transfigurations!"

Harry noticed how Hermione's eyes twinkled with anticipation and excitement. He knew Hermione was the best of the class and would probably do so by the end of the class and win the quill, but not if he had anything to do about it." Harry had learnt conjuring as one of the skills during his stay at Godric's Hollow. And he sure as hell was going to put some effort into conjuring a quill before Hermione.

Harry pushed up his occlumency to clear his mind and focused on the quill. He had barely done the movements and a new shining quill appeared on his table. "uh...Professor?" Harry called out holding the quill.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter, I said to conjure a quill, not take one out of your bag." The Professor replied, he tone angry. Harry conjured another quill right before the Professor's eyes. "Very well, Ten Points to Gryffindor" The Professor said almost as if she had been insulted. Harry also remembered that she was probably dissapointed for his refusing to play quidditch.

Harry glanced around to see that Hermione had now managed to conjure a quill but looked dissapointed. In the end McGonagall handed Harry her quill looking slightly dissapointed as she wanted that pen to go to her favourite student, Hermione Granger. The rest of the period, Harry lazily conjured different types of quills and even managed to conjure a muggle pen. He also saw Hermione conjuring bigger things and then looking pointedly at him as if challenging him. Harry ignored her and kept to having fun conjuring quills.

When the bell rang, Harry was the first to exit.

x-x-x-x-x

With charms next, Harry once again planned to outdo Hermione. He realised that his power had been growing steadily since his emancipation. And now that power was itching to get out. He was going to show Dumbledore just what he had lost. Dumbledore was going to regret ever losing Harry. Harry had long since realised that he was not just an average wizard and there was no point in trying to be. With that thought in mind, Harry headed towards the charms class.

After a short speech by Flitwick about how he was proud of all their OWLs, he continued about the difficult charms that they would be required to do in their NEWTs. "To start the term on a high note, we'll be practicing a charm to bewitch objects to shoot towards a target. Note that this charm is different from the first year levitation charm, the obvious differences given on page 15 of your books. Also this charm can be very deadly if used effectively in battle. But for fun, I've got quite a few darts and targets. The class was cleared of furniture and darts a huge table containing darts appeared at the centre of the room. Also targets appeared on the walls with a name over each target.

Excitement rang through the class as students grabbed darts and arranged thermselves in front of their targets. "Also note that i've charmed the darts to deflect off human skin, so don't even try charming them at your fellow students." A few students moaned over this new information. "The speed of the dart is judged through your magical power and accuracy through your mind control." Proffessor Flitwick's voice rang through the room before he gave the signal to begin.

Harry found to his surprise that his target was right next to Hermione's. "Well Potter, lets see if you can beat me now." Hermione appeared with Ron at her side. Harry was surprised to see Hermione speaking in that tone but knowing Ron, it wasn't that hard to beleive. "Tell me if the git gives you any trouble." Ron whispered to Hermione before leaving for his own target but Harry still heard the whisper.

On the proffessor's signal Harry banished a dart that took off in quite a speed but didn't hit the target. Hermione smirked at him and in three successive wand movements, three darts one after the other went straight and hit the target. Harry, remembering the Professor's tip on mind control once again pulled his occlumency at full force, he felt his magic itching and then when he waved his wand, he felt an amazing burst of power surge through his arm and out of the end of the wand.

Instantly all of his and to his surprise, Hermione's darts, sped towards the targets with a swishing sound and hit the target straight in the middle. A few darts broke due to the small amount of space where a large number of darts were now stuck. The rest of the period once again passed with Harry throwing a single dart at a time, pleased that he had outshown Hermione and Hermione trying to get better results. But even at the end of the period, the most she got was three darts at one time.

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He had a free period after lunch, seeing as he had taken only three subjects, most of his periods were free periods. Harry sat in the chamber of secrets and pondered over his growing power. He now realised that all the new spells that he had found, he could do within the first few tries.

As his mind wandered to other more exciting things, like revenge on Malfoy and Weasley, Harry realised that he had felt quite helpless last night. And if Sable hadn't arrived just in time, he would've been in the hospital wing instead of Malfoy. Harry planned to improve his nonverbal spells and to learn wandless magic.

He suddenly jumped to his feet remembering a book on wandless magic in Slytherin's library (he began to associate the compartment in the chamber of secrets as Slytherin's). Taking out the book he wanted and wandering off to a comfy couch in Slytherin's living room, Harry sat down and started to read.

_Wandless Magic, thought to be some special form of magic is in fact the same magic done without a wand rather than with it. Since wandless magic is very consuming, the wizard/witch needs to be very powerful in order to do the magic and remain undrained. The extent of this is explained by the fact that a normal wizard/witch would faint even by casting a simple levitation charm and would need at least three days to recover. An organised mind is also required which most wizards/witches lack which explains why they cannot do wandless magic even if they attempt it._

Harry closed the book and concentrated on his magic, occluded his mind and pointed his hand towards a lamp in the corner of the room. He willed his magic to flow out of his hand and in his mind, chanted the levitation charm. The lamp slowly began to rise. Harry moved the lamp to another corner before placing it down.

He stood up, ran around the room to check his health and let out a cry of triumph when he felt no difference. Meanwhile Sable stared at his master in anxiousness.

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His last class of the day was DADA and he would have been looking forward to it if it wasn't for Snape teaching the class. Mentally going through the various shield spells he had learnt, Harry headed towards the DADA class.

Once all the students were seated, Harry at the back of the room, Snape appeared and stalked towards the Proffessors' table. He seemed furious and that made the class even more tense. "I'm sure some of you will not be as pleased due to my presence." He looked at Harry. "But since I have got the position, you will, I repeat, you will have to adjust." He looked at Harry again.

"I do not want to talk about the teachers you have previously had. But I will check how much you have learned." "POTTER!" He yelled signalling for Harry to come in front of the class and join him.

"Since this is a class about Defense Against the Dark Arts, we will literally be doing just that!". "Prepare yourself to defend against the dark arts potter!" Snape motioned for Harry to take out his wand but before he had even reached his hand into his pocket, Snape had hurled a curse toward him that pierced straight through his leg leaving blood spurting out of the open wound.

The class had started to buzz in excitement. Harry took out his wand and sealed the wound to stop the bleeding although it still hurt like hell. Harry in reply sent a curse straight at Snape. Snape sidestepped the curse and started speaking. "No Mr. Potter, I thought I made myself clear, you are only to defend, not to attack as attacking isn't part of what we teach here."

Snape hurled another curse and Harry had to dive towards his left to avoid it. He landed on his injured leg and barely held back a yell of pain,...barely. Snape had a pleased look on his face. It was fairly obvious that Snape was planning for revenge and Snape's eyes twinkled like Dumbledore's, albeit in a differtent way.

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**A/N: Tell me what you think, REVIEW! I know I know, another cliffy, but beleive me, it comes naturally :P.**

**Next chapter we see Harry recruiting and the meeting with his group. And of course some action for Harry as the cliffy clearly suggests.**


	11. Orders

**A/N: This chapter contains some violent and bloody scenes. Anyways hope you people enjoy, this chapter is longer. Also a portugese translation is underway being done by DarkAngelSly which can be found at **

**So yay for DarkAngelSly. Enjoy and don't forget to review! **

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**Chapter 11 : Orders**

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Though his leg was still hurting, Harry managed to stand up. It seemed that Snape was waiting for just that as a curse came flying towards Harry. Harry put up an instant sheild which just barely contained the spell. "Is that all you've got, you slimy git!" Harry planned to humiliate Snape in front of the class. The class gasped at his use of the words and Snape was further infuriated.

Harry was fully prepared as curse after curse erupted from Snape's wand, half of which he spoke out loud and half of them non-verbal. Reacting on instant, Harry pulled off three different kinds of sheild in front of him and kept empowering the sheilds with his magic. Thankfully, the sheilds withheld, but they were very draining on Harry and he was starting to feel weak.

Harry put off his sheilds as Snape stopped throwing curses at him. It seemed that Snape was also tired and trying to catch his breath. Ignoring earlier warnings by Snape of not to attack, Harry instantly conjured five darts in the air. Using the charm that they had learned in charms class, Harry send them straight towards Snape with all the power he could muster.

Snape's face registered shock as he saw five darts coming towards him at unbeleivable speed. He could barely block the one aimed for his heart as four darts pierced through his body, two in the shoulders and two in the legs. Blood started pouring out from the holes left by the deadly darts. He fell to the ground writhing in pain.

Harry approached Snape and kicked him hard in the ribs. The students registered shock as most of them darted out of the classroom, the blood being too much for them.The few students that were in awe remained to watch the show, not caring what would happen to Snape. Harry knew that he had to make an everlasting impact on Snape, one the git wouldn't ever forget. A swish of his wand later Snape had been thrown violently to the other side of the room, he slammed hard against the stone wall and Harry could hear something break.

Harry grabbed Snape by his collar and looking him in the eye as hard as he could. Snape's eyes now registering fear as Harry whispered "Never mess with me again". Harry began to walk away as Snape lay like a bloody mess on the floor. "Follow me" he hissed at the few students who remained. Of them only three followed him. Just as Harry was about to exit, another swish by his wand and the chandelier hanging on the roof began to fall...straight onto Snape.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry led the three students without glancing backwards to the room of requirements. A simple cozy sitting room fullfilled his wishes as he entered. After the three had entered, Harry closed the door and turned to stare at the three of them.

"Theodre Nott" The first, a slytherin introduced himself. The second he knew, she was Susan Bones and Harry turned to the third. A dark haired boy from Ravenclaw. Harry had never seen him before and asked, "and you are?"

"Richard Campbell, you might not have seen me before, i tend to keep a low profile."

Harry seated himself on a couch and motioned for others to do the same. "There is only one way to rule the world, and that is by power" Harry started to say as he twisted his wand in his hands. "Dumbledore, as his name suggests, is dumb and Voldemort, is crazy" Harry started to laugh. The three remaining students gave shaky laughs in return not knowing where Harry was going with this.

"I want to win this war! Not for Dumbledore, not for Voldemort, for me! So I offer you an invitation now to join me" The other three students turned to stare at him as if he was crazy. "But you're just a kid" Nott replied as if asking for an explanation. Harry had already perceived their reaction and was ready to give them an answer.

He threw three copies of the same newspaper clippings over to them, the title "Grey robed wizards" clearly visible. After reading the clipping, all three of them turned to stare at Harry. "Yes, this is my side of the war. Lord Artemis commands the "grey robed wizards" and I enjoy a position of power with him. So what do you say?"

"Will we be serving this, Lord Artemis?" Richard spoke up. "No, you will be reporting directly to me. Lord Artemis has allowed me to command his followers at Hogwarts. "

As they all agreed, Harry made them swear the oath of loyalty he had done with his other followers. "Now that you are all members, your first assignment, Occlumency" Harry told them about how Snape and Dumbledore were able to silently read minds and the need for occlumency. "I will test you this weekend, until then, don't even talk to me or someone might get suspicious."

x-x-x-x-x

Harry exited the room of requirement quite some time after Nott,Susan and Richard had gone. He had pondered over the consequences of nearly killing Prof. Snape. In the end, he decided that it really didn't matter. The worst they could do was expel him. As Harry turned round a corner he ran into Hermione. "Professor Dumbledore wants you in his office. The password is cockroach cluster." Without saying another word, she dissapeared.

Harry noticed she seemed frightened and then he remembered that every sixth year student had witnessed what he had done to Snape, except Malfoy, and Harry was planning on giving him a rather personal demonstration. Clearing his mind and putting up his strongest occlumency sheilds, Harry made his way towards the headmasters' office.

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Dumbledore's eversmiling face, now registered a grave sadness. Harry smirked at the thought, even Voldemort couldn't have wiped the smile of Dumby's face like he had done. "Why are you doing this Harry?" was the first thing Dumbledore asked.

"You should have told him Professor, this is not a battle he can win. I gave as clear warnings as I could, that this year, I won't tolerate anything. Snape just went over the line and hence suffered the consequences." Harry replied in a serious tone.

"You could be expelled for that Harry, or even sent to Azkaban. I'm sure of the latter if we press the charges a bit. Now we don't want that do we Harry?" Dumbledore had thought out everything it seemed.

"Its times like these Dumbledore, that convince me you've gone senile. Just think about it, Voldemort has just gone public, and everybody wakes up to find the boy-who-lived sent to Azkaban. A rebellion is the least of what will happen, This is a nightmare even Fudge is scared of." Harry smirked. "But you can try all you want." Harry left the office.

Dumbledore once again had his head in his hands. Once again, the boy was right. Harry was slipping out of his hands faster and faster every day. He had to do something, just what that something was, even he didn't know now.

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Voldemort was pacing around the room waiting for his inner circle deatheaters to appear. Once it was clear that no more could come, he started the meeting. He noticed that his inner circle deatheaters were very little in number. Half of them were locked away in Azkaban, thanks to the Potter brat and the dumb Order. He needed his inner circle if he were to set his plans in motion.

"And where the hell is Snape?" Voldemort yelled out. "He is in St. Mungo's my lord" Nott stepped out from the circle. His son had given quite an elaborate explanation of how Snape had landed there but he didn't plan to tell the Dark Lord, as it would anger him.

Voldemort went over to Nott and pulled his face up by jerking his head backwards and stared into his eyes. A few moments later, he had all the information he needed. He was furious, it seemed that Potter brat was growing powerful.

He was impatient to get his plan in motion, but for that he needed his loyal followers who were in Azkaban. Voldemort knew he had to raid Azkaban soon. The preparations were done and the only thing he needed was Severus Snape. His potions were necessary if they were to raid Azkaban and come back without losing their minds.

As his mind wandered to other things Voldemort ordered another of his servant to report about the people in gray robes.

"No information master, it seems they have taken to laying low." The servant gave his report, bowed and backed off.

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Harry woke up to a bright morning on Sunday. Today was the day he would test his followers. The week had gone pretty well, considering his punishment. Harry laughed everytime he thought about it, whether it was scrubbing the floor, cleaning the toilets or whatever, Filch had taken his wand and left him to it. And Harry had quite literally brushed up his wandless skills, which were slowly becoming second nature.

Harry knew he was gaining immense power as the days progressed and he didn't want to leave even a tiny bit of that power unused. He had spent all his time training, from early in the morning to late in the night. He started the day knowing it was weekend and he would have a lot more time to train today, constantly reminding himself of what he had to do.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry was pacing the room of requirements waiting for his followers (as he now began to call them) to appear. He had informed them during the day of the time and place of the meeting. "Hi Harry" Harry was uneasy at the use of his first name but replied nonetheless. Being Harry, he could be casual with them but as Lord Artemis, he would definitely demand respect. As soon as the others were seated and the door closed, Harry started speaking.

Before I say anything, I need to test your occlumency. Harry in turn tested their occlumency sheilds and found that all of them had made quite a start and he was finding it difficult to retreive anything. "Excellent, keep practicing and within a week your sheilds will be solid enough." Harry now sat opposite them in a way that simply commanded respect.

"Welcome to the group. Although I beleive a formal induction will be conducted in front of Lord Artemis, which in fact will be happening in a week" Harry watched as they became excited yet frightened at the prospect of facing Lord Artemis. "Also, I suggest you start training now. Susan, I suggest you learn something about healing spells. Theodre the offense department and finally Richard for defense." Harry had spent the whole day planning this in his mind.

"Ok now coming to Hogwarts, from now on, all of you will hang around me. So I can get to know you better and you, know me better. First thing on our agenda today is to plan a revenge on Draco Malfoy." Harry's eyes now had a malicious glint in them.

"But isn't he in the hospital wing" Nott put in, a little uncertain.

"Yes, but that still doesn't stop me from getting my revenge. Theodre, your job is to find out when he and his goons will be dismissed from the hospital wing. I want to make sure he is healthy again before sending him back to the hospital. Richard, Susan, you should find out about and practice dissillusionment charms."

"You're going to ambush him" Richard stated in a matter of factly tone.

Harry started to laugh, "I, unlike Malfoy will give him prior warning. And also, i'll attack him from the front. You will be under dissillusionment charms in the corridor to look for anyone else and stop them for interfering." As an afterthough "And of course to watch the action."

"You still haven't told us why you want to attack him." Susan questioned. "Lets just say it is for even attempting to challenge me." Harry walked back from the room of requirement with them feeling quite elated. They were talking and laughing and Harry realised he hadn't had this much fun since leaving Ron and Hermione. Perhaps he could still have fun even in his quest for power.

x-x-x-x-x

"As soon as I get my hands on him, I'm going to..." Malfoy's speech was short lived as he spotted Harry leaning against a pillar in front of him. Crabbe and Goyle were right beside him. Malfoy took out his own wand. "Lost your way Potter?" Malfoy's jab didn't have the usual malice behind it. He looked rather afraid. Perhaps he had heard of Harry's encounter with Snape.

Harry thought it really didn't matter. "We have a score to settle Malfoy". Harry was twisting his wand in his hands and had said that, without even looking at Malfoy. Malfoy stuttered for a moment before regaining his composure. Harry had felt the spell coming towards him and had a block ready by the time the spell reached him. Harry recognized the spell as a full body blind, the one Malfoy had used to bind him earlier.

Harry still hadn't looked at Malfoy but now, he raised his face smiling and looked at Malfoy straight in the eye. Malfoy could feel Harry's green eyes boring into his, there was power there and they almost looked evil. For the first time in his life, Malfoy realised why the Dark Lord considered Potter a threat. And as he took a step backwards, he was scared of the future.

Crabbe and Goyle took this as a signal and launched themselves towards Harry. Relying on their physical strength rather than any magic they lunged towards him with shaking fists. Harry was prepared for them by the time they neared. A stealthly put tripping jinx had them both on the ground. Harry conjured two big blocks of stone above the fallen Crabbe and Goyle which fell on their backs. Two cracks could be heard as their backbones broke. Crabbe and Goyle were struggling and shreiking in pain under the blocks of stone.

Harry once again felt a spell coming towards him and his sheild was up in an instant. Malfoy's curse easily faltered against his well cast sheild. Harry saw that Malfoy had started to run. A swish of his wand and an invisible rope caught Malfoy and brang him back. Malfoy yelled another curse, which Harry had read about in the black library. It disfigured your entire body and was actually quite painful. Harry's knowlege of such a wide range of blocks allowed him to once again, easily throw off the curse.

A swish of his wand and Malfoy was pinned to a wall. "Lets see how you like your own curses thrown at you." Harry sent the disfiguring curse at Malfoy who started screaming loudly as his skin twisted in ways that it looked like it would tear off. He had asked Susan to put up a strong silencing charm, and it seemed she had done her work.

Two more dark curses later, Malfoy was bleeding from his mouth and his legs were permanently twisted in odd angles. "I'll warn you like I warned Snape, Malfoy. NEVER MESS WITH ME AGAIN!" Harry left Malfoy in a state of semi-consciousness and his followers cancelled their charms and followed him.

As they sat by the edge of the lake, Harry was carefully explaining the spells he had used to his Susan, Theodre and Richard. "What I don't get is how you knew the curse was coming at you, before you had even seen it, and Malfoy didn't even speak the incantation." They were all amazed at Harry's powers to say the least.

"When you practice so much magic, you develop a familiarity with it. It enables you to do things such as sense it." As his friends (Harry thought that as Harry, they were his friends and as Lord Artemis, followers) talked about other things besides the encounter, Harry lay on the grass, the sound of waves of water flowing in the background, and fell into an easy sleep. These were the people who had accepted him for the new him, and the new him was the real him, the one that would one day, rule the world.

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**A/N: Sorry, i couldn't include the group meeting on this chapter but its already longer than the others. Also i wanted to ask whether you want me to continue Harry in Hogwarts for sometime or should he venture into the outside world now? Next chapter : The inevitable meeting + New inductions + Voldemort + quite a lot of action.**


	12. Diagon Alley

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**A/N: Okay so i know i updated a little late but i was out of town for most of last week. So here is the next chapter and is also one of the largest. PS thanks for the reviews, keep em coming.**

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**CHAPTER 12 : DIAGON ALLEY**

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Harry was pacing in front of the girl's bathroom that held the entrance to the chamber of secrets. He had asked his friends to meet him there after breakfast and since it was Sunday, they all woke up at their conveniences. It seemed they had all met up in the great hall, as Harry saw them striding towards him. They all said their greetings to Harry and he started to check their occlumency sheilds. Once he was satisfied, he ordered them to follow him.

"Er, Harry, we're in a girls bathroom." Susan said as if she was the first one to notice. "I'm not blind you know...follow me." Harry replied bored, He led them to the sink that was the entrance. Concentrating on the snake, he was able to mutter "_Open" _in parseltongue.

"Whoa!" Even Richard who held quite a reserved look on his face looked surprised. Theodre was the first one to piece together the information although he still wasn't sure, "Is that the entrance to..." he left it at that. Susan and Richard looked at Theodre questioningly.

"Yes that is the entrance to the chamber of secrets. Now stop bickering and follow me, we're already behind schedule." Harry snapped and jumped in. Soon his friends had joined him and were looking around in awe and fear. Just then he heard a high pitched scream from behind and turned to see Susan screaming while pointed into a far corner where lay, a giant cobra.

Her screams had woken Sable up and he was slithering straight towards Susan when Harry cut his way. _"Sorry to wake you up Sable, go back to sleep" _As soon as Harry spoke, Sable lowered his head and retreated once again to the far corner. "Next time you scream, I'll let him eat you." Harry snapped at Susan. He could see Theodre and Richard looking terrified. "That is the snake of Lord Artemis, and you'd do well to remember it."

"Sorry Harry, I was just scared...we all were" Susan replied for all of them. "If you are going to join me, you should have no fear. Fear is for the weak." Harry replied and made his way towards the exit. They followed him out and on his orders, they all apparated to Diagon Alley.

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"Why are we here?" Theodre was the first one to ask. "Lets say we need to do a little shopping." Harry replied, rubbing his hands together. So naturally, their first stop was to be Gringotts. Harry allowed all of them to come with him to his vault.

"Wow! Not even my family has half this amount of treasure, and the Nott family is quite an old pure blooded family." Theodre stated. They were all impressed by the amount of money he possessed. They were all awed when he suggested that there were two other vaults if they wanted to visit. Harry filled three bags with quite a lot of money and after shrinking them, left gringotts. His friends were right behind him.

Harry had thought about what he was going to buy. He needed to buy some new robes for new recruits of his group. He also needed to buy a house, a medium sized well hidden, house that could be used as headquarters for his group. There was also the problem of keeping in touch with his followers. He decided that he needed a trip to Knockturn Alley.

He tossed his friends some galleons and told them to shop here and there and meet him for lunch in The Leaky Couldron. He also told them to keep a low profile so people wouldn't notice students out of school.

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Harry had transfigured himself to the face that he had chosen for Lord Artemis. He also neatly tranfigured his school robes into gray ones, with a hood that he could lower over his face. Harry entered the shop of the tailor in Knockturn Alley. Very few people knew that not everything in Knockturn Alley was necessarily evil.

"Mm..mm..My Lord" The shopkeeper had done business with Lord Artemis before and it was quite a frightening experience as he remembered it. He had refused to make the robes and had been cursed violently and made to obey. Lord Artemis had also looked into his mind and had threatened to kill his family if he told anyone. "You should have asked My Lord, I would have come to your residence." The shopkeeper had kept it secret, not only because his family had been threatened but also because he had been paid handsomely and he looked forward to pay like that again.

"Just like last time, I need ten robes. I'll be back in an hour." Harry dropped money on the counter and left leaving a very eager tailor.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry remembered seeing an estate and property store here the last time he was here. After a few wrong turns he finally reached it. Harry entered what was probably the most well furnished shop in Knockturn Alley.

He supposed most rich pureblooded families handled their property matters here. They must be well payed. Harry (guessing that the black family solicitor worked here) walked over to the counter and asked for Mr. Boucher (the black family solicitor).

Harry was led into a room and asked to sit and wait. After a few minutes, the door opened and Mr. Boucher, like before entered wearing black robes. Harry had informed Mr. Boucher prior to his visit and therefore, got straight to business.

Harry suddenly remembered that his appearance at the moment was that of Lord Artemis and wandlessly removed the transfiguration before raising his hood.

"It seems Mr. Boucher, that I am in need of a house. The house must be well-hidden and not in a general wizarding area." Harry said.

"Mr. Potter, I cannot imagine your need for a house at the moment. But nonetheless, the black family home is best suited to your requirements."

"No Mr. Boucher, are there no other options?" Harry wanted to keep the black home as a last option. He imagined the uproar it would cause if Harry Potter were to challege Dumbledore in court.

"Well there is a villa on an island that the black family used for holidays. During dark days, they also used it as a retreat, therefore it was made very secure. Although the basic furnishing is still present, i think they removed the antique's and anything related to the black family. I suspect it was robbed."

"How soon can we get there?" Harry asked. Time was short and he needed a headquarter badly. "and how much will it cost to get it refurnished?" added as an afterthought.

"Well Mr. Potter, getting there would take less than a minute as the remaining portkey to it resides with me. Getting it furnished on the other hand would take about one day."

Harry was surprised. He thanked magic that everything happened so fast in the wizarding world. "Yes get it furnished and ready by evening Mr. Boucher. I'll even double the pay to get it done. Also, can you make another portkey to the house?" Mr Boucher nodded " I'll come here to collect them before dinner."

Harry payed Mr. Boucher the fees and quietly left the building.

x-x-x-x-x

Wandlessly turning back to Lord Artemis once again Harry went to check up on the robes. A few minutes later, he left the shop with shrunken bags of robes in his pockets.

Harry made his exit from Knockturn Alley and decided to check up with Flourish and Blotts before rejoining his group.

Harry entered the shop and looked around aimlessly before remembering that he needed a way to keep in touch with his followers. Remembering the Protien charm Hermione had done for the DA, Harry approached the counter.

"Do you have a book related to advanced Protien charms?" Harry asked in a gruff voice. The shopkeeper eyed him warily before replying.

"Well, the usual books can be found in the charms section but tell you what" The shopkeeper looked around to see that Harry was the only person in the shop, apparently he knew the type he was dealing with and leaned in closer, "there is a book with more on protien charms than is legal. I think it would be better if you joined me in the back room."

Harry was amazed by the shopkeeper's secrecy. He never really thought he'd find anything dark in this shop. Following the shopkeeper, Harry was led into a very dark and dusty room.

The shopkeeper produced a book from an old box. "It's rumored that You-Know-Who himself used charms from this book for the dark marks." The shopkeeper's voice barely above a whisper.

Half an hour later Harry left the shop with the book after paying the shopkeeper quite a lot of money, not that he cared, the book was far more valuable.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry found his friends sitting in a table at the far corner of the leaky couldron. He soon joined them (after changing back to Harry of course). After hearing about their day, Harry ordered a healthy meal for everybody. After lunch all of them left the leaky couldron once again towards Diagon Alley.

Harry had an idea during lunch. If Fred and George still hadn't been allowed to join the order, maybe they would join his side. Very few people realized their talent with magic, and he was one of them.

Harry had heard quite a lot about their shop from Ron so he decided to pay them a visit.

"Hello Fred" Harry said after entering the shop, his friends in tow. Fred jumped in recognition and turned around while calling his brother.

"Didn't expect you to be here at this time of the year Harry ol' boy." George had come in from a back door. "Which reminds me, why weren't you with our family when they visited? Where were you all summer?" Fred and George started a barrage of questioning.

Harry held up his hand to silence them. "First, I need to ask you a question, Are you guys finally inducted into the order?" Harry said suddenly.

That silenced them. With glum looks on their faces, they both replied, "No, Old Dumby thinks we're not serious enough. And everyone else agrees."

Harry could feel their disappointment and felt sad for them. "Well, now I'll answer your questions. I broke up with Dumbledore and his bloody order. Lets say I went my own way. Lord Artemis found me, gave me protection better than Dumbledore and the freedom that I so craved."

Harry paused, "You remember the article in the daily Prophet about gray robed wizards?" Harry looked at them uncertainly but saw knowing looks in their eyes.

"You mean to tell us" "that you're part of a rebel group" "that kicks both the Ministry's" "and Voldemort's" "asses" The twins replied.

"Shoulda known Harry wouldn't stay outta trouble for too long" Fred said. "Thats our boy" George said, both faking tears in their eyes.

"Shut up guys!" Harry replied as his friends behind him started to laugh. "So you wanna join or not?" Harry asked irritated.

"Of course!" Both replied in unison.

The rest of the day was spent in the twins' shop, Harry introducing his new friends and all of them having fun checking the twins' new inventions. The twins were more than happy that Harry had ditched their git of a brother especially after he told them how he had betrayed him.

x-x-x-x-x

"You guys stay here, I need to check on something." The sun was setting and Harry needed to get everything ready before the meeting. Going straight to the solicitor shop, Harry called for Mr. Boucher right away.

Mr. Boucher had made another portkey as Harry had requested and had the villa well furnished by that time.

Harry thanked Mr. Boucher for his services and left to survey the villa. It was beautifully furnished. The house had five bedrooms, a hall, a huge dining room, a kitchen and some empty rooms which could be used for just about anything.

He immediately left to go and collect his friends.

x-x-x-x-x

"My Lord, a gray robed wizard was seen in Diagon Alley" The deatheater bowed and backed, his information delivered.

"Excellent, this just might draw them out. Prepare for an attack on Diagon Alley. Capturing the gray robed wizard alive would be better but nothing stops you from killing him if matters get worse."

Voldemort was looking around his circle to find someone to lead the assault. "Nott", Nott stepped out from the circle. "I believe you have some unfinished business. Lead the assault" Voldemort ordered before retreating back to his chamber.

Nott shuddered as he remembered his near death experience with Lord Artemis. He had escaped only due to the fall of anti-apparation wards. With a week on potions he had been very lucky to survive the loss of blood.

Now his eyes twisted evilly as he anticipated revenge. This would be a way to get back. Gathering nine other deatheaters, he apparated to Diagon Alley.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry was just about to portkey the others to Black Villa (as he had named it), when he heard screams coming from Diagon Alley. Taking out five shrunken robes from his pocket he tossed them and ordered them to wear them over their robes.

The Deatheaters stared as six gray robed wizards slowly walked out of a shop, hands tightly gripping wands.

As if snapping out of a daze the deatheaters started to fire a barrage of curses. Harry had already perceived it and his shield was already prepared by the time the curses reached them. Just as they had planned smoke started to erupt between the two forces, Fred and George pulling it off nicely. The deatheaters were momentarily stunned by the smoke and it was that moment that Harry ordered to attack.

Half of the deatheaters were down by the time the smoke cleared. Nott (the deatheater) on the other hand was shouting orders to keep up the attack. Theodre had recognized his fathers' voice and slipped by Harry's side.

"You realise your father might be killed in this Theodre." Harry stated.

"Yes" Theodre added through bitten teeth. "I'd even be glad to do it myself"

Harry sensed deep rooted hatred there and made a mental note to inquire into the cause later. Just as Harry was pondering that, a slicing curse made his way towards him and brushed the side of his arm.

Blood started pouring out. Anger coursed through him as he used a spell that sends an invisible magical whip against the opponent. This whip was so strong that it caught all the deatheaters and they were sent tumbling to the ground.

The deatheaters quickly apparated back pain soaring through their fronts, wherever the whip had made contact and mind thinking of the pain that they were likely to suffer at the hands of their Lord for their failure.

Susan tended to Harry's injury very quickly and soon all of them had portkeyed to Black villa.

x-x-x-x-x

"Ok look guys, I will not be appearing at the meeting as the other members don't know that the Boy-Who-Lived is working for Lord Artemis. I will inform Lord Artemis of you guys and he will induct you in the group."

Harry didn't intend to tell them that he was Lord Artemis and neither to tell the other members that he was Harry Potter. They ate dinner in the dining room in uneasy silence anticipating the meeting.

Harry, with their help was able to decorate the dining room a bit. At the end it looked marvelous. The dining table cloth was black colored with a Green Cobra imprinted in the center. The rest of the room was made to match the black and green color scheme. And dark gray shades were also added.

Once everything was ready, Harry ordered them to stay out of the dining room and explore the villa. They were to enter the dining room at precisely eight-thirty.

x-x-x-x-x

At eight fifteen Harry apparated to Godric's Hollow, changing his appearance to Lord Artemis. Once again back in the old meeting room, Harry awaited their arrival.

Once the old members were there, they told their Lord that new recruits were waiting outside, and requested for their induction. Harry told them about their new headquarters and gave them a portkey.

He told them to gather the new recruits as well and take the portkey. Harry himself took the other portkey himself.

x-x-x-x-x

When the others arrived, Harry was already seated at the head of the dining table. The other members seated themselves, the new ones looking warily at their future Lord. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and after that and five people wearing gray robes entered.

"Ah" Lord Artemis said aloud, "it seems our recruits from Hogwarts have arrived" The other members also turned to stare at the newcomers who seated themselves at the end of the table.

Harry smiled inwardly, pleased that he was the only one who knew everything. Once the chatter died down, everybody turned towards Lord Artemis expectantly.

"Let the meeting...begin!"

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**A/N: The chapter was just getting too big so the meeting will be in the next chappy. Hopefully you'll forgive me for that. **

**Next chapter : Meeting / Azkaban / Dumbledore taking action**

**You all know there is only one way to speed up an update. R-E-V-I-E-W-!**


	13. Azkaban

**A/N: Ok, so I know I updated a little late but i was reading another very long fanfic. Anyways back to the story. I also thought my Harry was getting too powerful too quick, I tried to curb it a little but hey, who can actually do that huh? Enjoy!**

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**CHAPTER 13 : Azkaban**

**x-x-x-x-x**

Harry first looked towards the unspeakables, Simon and Laura if he remembered their names correctly. "We don't have any new recruits my Lord, we could not.." but their speech was cut short as Harry raised his hand to silence them.

"I did not ask you for a reason." Harry simply stated. Then looking towards the deatheater Sid, Harry ordered him to report. He looked troubled as he glanced towards two of his accomplices. "My Lord, these are other deatheaters that work with me but.."

"But what Sid?" Harry asked.

"My Lord, we no longer wish to serve the Dark Lord. So we might not be of service as spies like Sid is." One of the deatheaters said, a little unsure of continuing.

"Continue" Harry said sensing the others' unease.

"My Lord. If it is possible...we would also like a safe place to say." The second deatheater who was a witch said nervously.

"Granted" Harry showed no response to their continuous thanking and turned his attention to Roland, an Auror in training and probably his first recruit.

"My Lord, I was able to convince our instructor who was fed up with the ministry to see our group. But he may need some convincing on whose side we are on and what we do". Roland replied glancing at the now quietly sitting auror.

"Ah...I was quite fed up with Voldemort getting the edge in the war. The ministry's incompetent and Dumbledore fails to act. Our purpose is to end the war and to take control over the wizarding world. If you disagree with any of that, you may leave now. " Harry looked straight into the eyes of the auror.

The auror gave an involuntary shudder at the piercing green eyes and then bowed his head. Taking a moment to think over the deal, he finally raised his head, confident that he had made the right decision and nodded. "Yes my Lord".

The other auror in training, Stephen had brought over a friend of his who was a quidditch player who played for the chudley cannons. Harry smirked at how envious Ron would now be to join his group.

"But I know quite a few curses." The quidditch player explained after he was introduced. Harry simply nodded at this and then turned to the table at large.

First he made them all binding using a spell so as to never betray or reveal any secrets. Then he started to address them. "We will be known as The Brotherhood of Ebon. And you will be wearing these robes at all meetings. Harry gave robes to the new members, also with a flick of his wand, the robes of the older members too, changed into gray robes.

"You two", Harry pointed at the new deatheaters, "will stay in this house, I also have some work for you, meet me after the meeting". Harry turned towards the aurors, "any information you would like to share?". The newly inducted auror addressed Harry.

"My Lord, Dementors have been leaving Azkaban. The ministry is keeping the information quiet but very soon there won't be any dementors left."

Just as Dumbledore suspected, Harry thought. Turning towards Sid, he asked him to report.

"My Lord, the Dark Lord is planning to raid Azkaban. The raid will be huge in itself and it is no secret. Even if the ministry had been alerted the Dark Lord wouldn't care. Now that his potions master has recovered, the raid will be carried out tomorrow."

Harry knew that if Voldemort raided Azkaban, his forces would get a boost. Most of the prisoners there would join him if only for the fact that he freed them. And as much as he wanted the ministry to get what they deserved, he figured that he would have to do something.

"My Lord if I may?" The auror asked permission to speak at which Harry nodded.

"Dementors have been leaving Azkaban at a very fast rate and I doubt there are any left. Five at the most I would guess. The ministry has yet to increase its auror force there and it is therefore the perfect time for an attack by You-Know-Who and i doubt he'll meet any resistance."

Harry pondered over this, low number of aurors, barely any dementors, even he could raid Azkaban with his followers. Harry smiled at the thought. Why not?

His followers had started talking amongst themselves and Harry let them, if only to formulate his plan. No matter how much he had learned the previous summer, he knew he still wasn't a match for Voldemort. And his followers, now fifteen, were nothing against Voldemort's deatheaters.

Harry raised a hand for silence at which everybody stopped speaking. Harry once again turned towards the auror, he was proving useful, "can you manage a portkey to Azkaban before midnight?"

"Yes my Lord though I will have to obliviate a few people but I'm fairly sure it can be done." At Harry's nod he took the portkey out from the house and instantly left.

Harry turned towards the rest. "I invite all of you to live here in this house for any amount of time. You may come and go as you find necessary. I would like someone to stay here permanently though to look after the place. At this Roland stood up.

"My Lord, as you saw, deatheaters had burned my house. Since then I have been going from one muggle place to another. If you allow, I would be happy to stay here and look after the place."

"Excellent" Harry said and turned towards the two new deatheaters. "And of course you'll be staying here as well." At this the two nodded. Fred and George also got up and mumbling something about high priced accommodation, requested to be allowed to stay here which Harry allowed at once.

Once the rest of the group had politely refused the invitation, Harry continued, looking towards Roland once more. "The fireplace in the living room is blocked. Unblock it but make sure it is password protected. There are two portkey's to the Villa. One I will use and the other will be given to you when the auror arrives. There are also some empty rooms in the Villa. I need you to make a dueling chamber, a potions lab and a library. There are quite some books in Godric's Hollow. You can take them all here. I will also order a supply of books to make sure the library is worth something."

Roland was nodding all through this and his excitement was clearly visible. The rest of the members had also started gossiping. Harry repeated that this Villa was available to all members. After all he didn't want members to think he didn't care for them.

Soon afterwards, the auror arrived carrying the portkey. Harry started planning immediately. Susan would be trailing them and healing the injured. The auror in trainings would cast patronuses to the remaining dementors if there were any. Since the portkey would clear them through the wards, there was no need to worry about that. Then Harry turned towards the group and revealed what was to be done.

"As soon as we arrive, the aurors will attack. I want you to stun all of them. Once all aurors are stunned and the dementors at bay, I want all of you to spread across the prison. Kill all prisoners, I repeat kill them all without mercy, deatheaters or not. We need to get this over and done with quickly in case Voldemort hears and quickens his plans. We need to be out of the prison before dawn and hopefully no one will notice until next morning."

Just as the clock stuck midnight, they portkeyed away to Azkaban.

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as they arrived, they were met with a dozen stunning spells. If Harry hadn't acted fast, half of his followers would have been stunned, but Harry had pulled up a shield just in time to absorb the spells.

Immediately a small battle begun but didn't last long as the last of the aurors were rounded up. Harry smirked as he recognized Tonks amongst the stunned aurors. As Susan started treating the injured, the rest of them made their way towards the prisoners.

Harry didn't need to glance around to notice that his followers were doing a great job. The blasting curse, choking curse and occasionally the Avada Kedavra could also be seen. Harry didn't both with most of them and made his way to the highest security area.

There was only one prisoner there and Harry noticed with a smirk that it was none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. He could literally taste the revenge in his mouth. He decided he would be merciful if he killed her then but rather than that he stunned her and levitated her behind him as he made his way back to the entrance.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry waited at the entrance a stunned Bellatrix still hanging upside down, for his followers to finish the job. He also pointed his wand at the aurors and they were all tied up with ropes.

Suddenly an earthquake shook the ground and Harry almost fell. Sid came running down a hallway. "My Lord, the Dark Lord is here. They are bringing down the wards." Harry saw Sid's face was laced with fear.

Keeping his calm Harry ordered him to round the rest up. Though he knew the gravity of the situation. If Voldemort somehow caught them, only God knows what horrors they would face.

As soon as all his members were assembled, most of them trembled as another earthquake shook the ground, this one indicating that the wards had indeed fallen, Harry ordered them to grab the aurors. At his followers' shocked look, Harry merely smirked. It wouldn't do to leave them to Voldemort and he had other plans for them.

And so it was that fifteen grey robed wizards, twelve stunned aurors and a stunned prisoner portkeyed out of Azkaban just as the door was blasted open. Thankfully the portkey was a rope so as to accommodate them all.

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as they arrived back in Black Villa, Harry left his followers and their prisoners and went straight towards a large empty room. He immediately began warding the room against common and not so common escapes.

Harry went back and levitated all the aurors with a single levitation spell and threw them into the room. He went in took all their wands and returned. Closing the room Harry locked it with magic and also made the door unbreakable.

The brothers of Ebon ( Harry's followers ) watched in awe as their master worked silently and was in complete control of the situation.

Harry then cleared another room and put the same warding on it and dumped Bellatrix in it pretty violently, which would definitely cause some bruising and locked the door in much the same way. His followers followed him back to the meeting room and sat on their respective seats as Harry took his.

"Who is excellent in potions?" And to Harry's surprise Richard raised his hand. Sid also raised his hand though reluctantly. "I need a batch of Veritaserum, both of you will brew different batches and I'll select the better one. Of course you will be at Hogwarts" Harry motioned towards Richards at which he nodded.

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through Harry's scar. Knowing how strong his occlumency shields were, he wondered how angry Voldemort was to cause such pain. Harry ignored the pain best as he could though he constantly clenched and unclenched his fists under the table.

When the pain had finished, Harry turned towards Roland. "Keep the prisoners fed by conjuring food straight to their room. Besides that there will be no contact with them." Harry stared hard at him to make sure the seriousness of the situation was understood. He knew there was a bathroom attached to the aurors holding room but there wasn't one with Bellatrix's room. He smiled inwardly at the thought.

Harry turned towards them all, "There will be a serious backlash from the ministry, Voldemort and the Order of Pheonix simultaneously. I want none of you to be out that much. If possible keep a low profile. Next weekend at the next meeting, we will discuss what to do with them."

Harry looked towards Richard "I think it takes a month for the Veritaserum to mature" to which Richard nodded. Harry clearly remembering from last year when he was captured by Umbridge. Well it wouldn't be a month until he could start serious questioning but who said he couldn't have a little fun with them before, especially Bellatrix.

Harry left the room laughing, a laugh which chilled the remaining people in the room to the bone. They shivered at the raw power emanating from their master at that point.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry portkeyed with his three friends back to the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets (forbidden forest side) and quickly entered. They wanted to be in bed before anyone woke up.

_How did it go maaassssterrr? _Sable asked apparently woken up by their entrance.

_Very well, go back to sleep. _Harry replied and exited the chamber of secrets ( Hogwarts side ) while Susan continued to glance backwards at every step as if expecting Sable to attack.

Harry bid his friends farewell in the corridor as they all belonged to different houses. He could easily have slept in the Chamber of Secrets but knowing the backlash from the raid of Azkaban in the morning it would be better if everyone found him in the Gryffindor dormitory to avoid any questions.

Harry was feeling pretty tired as he approached the fat lady and was ready to fall asleep any moment. It was probably for this reason that he didn't notice the two silent stunning spells until was two late and he was hit.

The two spells were quite unexpected and knocked him back towards the stone wall which he hit with a thud. Soon he was loosing consciousness and blacked out.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry slowly opened his eyes to see that he was face to face with Albus Dumbledore. The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes had dimmed quite a bit and he was looking sad. He lay a gentle hand on Harry's face to which Harry wanted to jerk his head away but found that being stunned, he was unable to do so.

Dumbledore looked into Harry's eyes and said in barely a whisper, "I am very sorry to do this, dear boy."

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**A/N: Yes I hate cliffy's as much as the next person but it just seemed to come to me. :P. You know you could review to make me post faster. So go for it. REVIEW!**


	14. Wizards' War

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I look forward to more (no surprises there!). Ok this probably clears up anybody's questions relating to other magical species. I've read quite a few stories with the war including other species and even other countries but they tend to get too much out of control.**

**Anyways Enjoy!**

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**CHAPTER 14: Wizards' War**

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Dumbledore looked straight into his eyes and Harry felt a violent intrusion in his mind. Immediately knowing what to do, his shields were up in an instant. Dumbledore shook his head, frustrated, got up and began to pace around the room. "You were beginning to get out of my grip Harry. Now here's what I have in store for you. I'm sure you'll thank me later."

Harry was beyond mad. To think that Dumbledore, the leader of the light was kidnapping the boy-who-lived. This was going to bite Dumbledore in the back later and Harry would make sure it bit hard.

"Harry, Since you know the prophecy now, you should understand that you have a responsibility to the wizarding world. I'm going to leave you here to ponder over your attitude with Alastor to look over you. I'll be back in a week, and then, I'll be all ears for listening to your apology and believe me, I'll forgive you with open arms."

Dumbledore looked towards Moody and nodded his head to continue with plan as usual. That done, Dumbledore gave Harry a smile and port-keyed away. Hopefully by the end of the week, Harry's occlumency shields would be weak enough.

Harry looked at his surroundings and found that he was in a small stone cottage. This was probably the only room except the bathroom which had a bed in the middle. The area was quite cold, Harry noticed with a shudder. Alastor Moody was sitting in a chair in front of the fireplace, tending to his wooden leg

"I'm sure you can't go anywhere without your wand lad. So I'm going to unfreeze you, mind you, no rash moves or you'll end up on your ass before you can even blink." Moody said to Harry threateningly.

While Moody was saying this, Harry was planning his escape. If he knew Dumbledore, he'd be fool enough to have full confidence in Moody's containing abilities and leave Harry's wand somewhere around here. And even though his wandless abilities were not excellent, they weren't dismissal either.

The best thing about wandless magic was that you could hold multiple spells at a time with different limbs. Harry wasn't at the point where he could throw five spells with five fingers or even do spells with anything other than hands but he could throw two spells with two hands.

As soon as Moody removed the full body bind, Harry's hands went into action. With his left hand he pushed Moody's chair back causing him to fall and simultaneously with the right hand he had cast a wandless expelliarmus.

Standing up Harry caught Moody's wand perfectly and in another split second, he had Moody stunned. The speed at which Harry worked armed by his seeker reflexes made it impossible to counter. Moody lay stunned on the ground with a shocked expression on his face.

"Accio Wand!" Harry's wand came blasting through a cabinet and straight to his hand. Feeling more in-control with his own wand, Harry cast some spells to check the wards around the area. Anti-apparation wards were present but a port-key would slip through it.

Harry transfigured his robes to a dark gray color and changed his face. He obliviated Moody so that the only thing he would remember was sitting in the cottage and Lord Artemis coming and stunning him. Taking a stunned Moody by the arm, Harry used his own port-key to the cottage and with a tug on the navel, vanished a second later taking Moody with him.

x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile in the great hall, Dumbledore got up at breakfast to make an announcement. "Good Morning, I have an announcement to make. Mr. Harry Potter will not be with us for the week as he is currently with his aunt who is in critical condition. Also there may be times where he will leave the school to visit his aunt so I request you not to be alarmed." Dumbledore sat down with a smile of satisfaction on his face which unknown to him confused many students.

Whispers erupted in the great hall as if a swarm of bees had encompassed the great hall. Most of the students drew up their own conclusions. Since Dumbledore's smile had given him away, everybody knew that Dumbledore wouldn't have been happy if anyone was injured. Some said Harry was off fighting the deatheaters, others thought he was receiving private training from the aurors but nobody got close to the truth, Dumbledore had kidnapped the boy-who-lived.

Suddenly a flutter of wings announced the arrival of mail. And it was the front page of the daily Prophet that shocked the most.

_**AZKABAN NO MORE!**_

_In a recent raid on the Prison of Azkaban that left every single prisoner dead and every auror on duty missing and the building of Azkaban in ruins, the Ministry is in a state of shock and confusion. _

_Was this the plan of You-Know-Who? A ministry insider has informed us that even captured deatheaters hadn't escaped and were dead like the rest. This leaves us to conclude that the raid was concluded by none other than the gray robed wizards._

Immediately after breakfast Susan, Theodre and Richard met outside the great hall. "Well, he didn't tell us anything." Susan said, starting the conversation. Richard spoke up at that, "Our orders still stand, I'll work on the potion while you two start recruiting." They all nodded at this and went their seperate ways.

x-x-x-x-x

Voldemort was pacing around his newly built lair in a towering temper. He had specifically built his new headquarters, after tedious work in a ruined castle, to accommodate the prisoners. It was unplottable and equipped with an enormous amount of dark wards cast by Lord Voldemort himself. A large amount of potions had been brewed for the health and revival of his deatheaters.

And then, months of planning, all gone in an instant. Arriving in Azkaban to find his loyal minions killed. Voldemort tortured another deatheater to release his anger. He needed to change his priorities. The Potter brat and old Dumbledore could wait. This new threat needed to be dealt with first.

Stopping himself to think, Voldemort stood in thought for a few moments before giving orders. He knew he couldn't rush into things, planning was essential. His inner circle was greatly reduced. Wealthy purebloods like Lucius and Nott had managed to escape with their wealth a few weeks after Dumbledore caught them but the rest had been counting on Voldemort to free them.

Knowing that he would have to build a new inner circle, Voldemort addressed the deatheaters. He was standing on a raised platform and before him were row after row of his deatheaters. All of them had been summoned.

"Deatheaters! Our victory has been delayed. It seems we have a new enemy. And I am sad to admit that my deatheaters are WEAK!" Every single deatheater shuddered at the coldness in Voldemort's voice. "From now on, every single deatheater will report every single day, except those who are undercover, for training in the dark arts." A murmer of excitement started to grow amongst the deatheaters.

"Silence!" Voldemort's command was followed by pin-drop silence. "You will find this headquarters equipped with an extensive set of dueling platforms as well as quite a few dark arts books. You are dismissed!" Cancelling the Sonorus charm on his voice, Voldemort ordered Lucius, Nott, Greyback and Snape to stay.

Voldemort sat down on his throne as Snape, Nott, Lucius and Greyback stood before him, heads bowed. "Snape, I want you to report every weekend and find out talented potion makers amongst my deatheaters. You are to train them in advanced potions, those that we will require in this war. It doesn't do to have only one talented potion maker." Snape knew that Voldemort was angry that he was incapacitated when Voldemort needed him. "Yes master" Snape had barely said before he was on the ground, writhing and screaming in agony.

"Lucius" Voldemort turned his attention towards one of his most wealthy deatheaters. "I want you to take some deatheaters and go find wizards and witches to recruit. I have a feeling this war is going to get bloody and our numbers will diminish if we don't start recruiting now."

"Yes Master" Lucius was subjected to a crucio which barely lasted ten seconds. Many would've thought Voldemort was getting soft but Lucius knew better.

"Use Money, Torture, Blackmail or whatever means you can think of to recruit." Voldemort said before turning his attention to greyback. "Lets see Fernir, you are absolutely worthless with a wand and you have failed to convince the werewolves to join the war, what am I to do with you."

Greyback stammered. "My Lord, they are fleeing Europe. They are getting offers from other nations of equality and low priced wolfsbane for the full moon. Even Remus Lupin sent by Dumbledore was unable to convince them to fight us. It seems they don't want to get involved at all."

Voldemort nodded, he knew that already. With the giants refusing to get involved as well, he had only his deatheaters. It seems this war was solely a wizards' war. "You still have a chance to redeem yourself Greyback, I want you to start physically training my deatheaters. Make sure they aren't completely useless without a wand."

Voldemort was no fool, he knew the advantage of physical training in a duel. Turning to Nott, "Nott, take out a search team and find all the information on these gray robed wizards" Voldemort said with no less amount of anger. "I want information Nott and you would do well to remember that". Voldemort said before Nott was subjugated to a round of Crucio.

Voldemort dismissed them all and sat down on his throne, thinking. His only other allies were Dementors and using them alongside deatheaters were useless. As the deatheaters themselves were affected by them. He would use the dementors for raids while his deatheaters were being trained. That would make sure that both Dumbledore and the Ministry remained on edge.

x-x-x-x-x

Dumbledore sat at the head table in the dining room at No.12 Grimmauld Place. This was a full Order of the Phoenix meeting. "It seems that these gray robed wizards are turning into a formidable force. Voldemort is not happy." Dumbledore said pointedly looking at Snape.

"The war is escalating. The Werewolves have fled" Dumbledore looked towards Lupin. "This is going to be a wizards' war. Voldemort has a large number of deatheaters at his command and I am sure ths Lord Artemis also has. Which leaves us quite few compared to them. Though you need not worry about that, if my other plan succeeds, we will have the ministry under our control."

"What is this other plan Albus?" McGonagall asked. "In time Minerva, you will find out."

Dumbledore turned towards Mrs. Weasley. "I believed I asked you Molly, to invite the twins to join the order." Molly started shaking her head while looking tearful. "Sorry Albus, they have refused and they also insulted you Albus. I just don't know, they were so eager to join a month ago."

"We have also information that Voldemort himself is teaching quite a few of his deatheaters which will undoubtly make them quite powerful. So I suggest you start training, this war has reached a point which even I hadn't perceived."

x-x-x-x-x

Harry knew that Moody would be in a towering temper when he woke up so Harry made a separate cell for him and locked him like the others. Putting extra protection on this room and wards that even magic couldn't see through to block Moody's eye. Moody was one powerful wizard and his easy capture was explained by the element of surprise.

Ha! Harry thought. Should've known, Constant Vigilance! Changing his robes into gray robes and changing his appearance as well, Harry entered the dining room. Everybody present stood up in respect and sat after Harry had seated himself at the head table.

Roland, Sid and his two deatheaters and Fred and George, all living here, were present. "Anything to report?" At Harry's question Sid immediately began reporting of the Dark Lord's new plans. After he was done, Harry sat in thought for a while.

The war was escalating and at a very fast pace. Harry ordered them to do what he had ordered them to do, make a dueling chamber, library and potions lab and also bring books from Godrics' Hollow. Meanwhile Harry took Fred & George with him to Diagon Alley to buy a few more books.

Everybody was shocked to see three grey robed wizards apparate to Diagon Alley. Screams could be heard for apparently no reason as Harry wasn't doing any torturing. Fear, Harry thought, that is how Voldemort operates.

Harry made his way towards Flourish and Blotts. People hastened out of his way in fear as Harry took a straight path, Fred and George walking behind him. Of course all of their hoods were lowered. Harry began picking out book after book and ordered Fred and George to do the same. After half an hour with quite a lot of books, Harry paid the price and shrank them.

As soon as they exited Flourish and Blotts, Aurors with their red robes started to appear at the Gringotts end of Diagon Alley. A moment later black robes started to apparate at the Leaky Couldron end.

The aurors were even more shocked to see deatheaters here. Harry slowed down and muttered to Fred and George, "I need that smoke bomb, now!" Fred and George it seems were always prepared as smokes of different colors started to cover the air.

Not a thing could be seen in such smoke. A loud voice could be heard before the smoke cleared. "The Brotherhood of Ebon will prevail." The voice was almost a hiss and with a coldness unmatched. The aurors stood rooted to their position as did the deatheaters.

When the smoke cleared, the aurors could clearly see the deatheaters but the Brothers of Ebon had vanished. Soon after, the deatheaters also vanished as the aurors began to clean up and start to look for evidence.

After an hour of work, the aurors found, to their frustration an untraceable portkey was used. Sighing, they apparated to the ministry to report.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry spent the rest of the day training his followers and also trained himself in quite a few dark arts spells. He practiced his wandless spells but not in front of his followers. His followers were quite exhausted by dinner time.

They had learned quite a lot. And they looked quite promising. Harry told them to go rest as he picked up a random book and sat on his bed in a bedroom he had prepared for himself.

Looking at the title, Harry smirked. "_Legilimency for the Powerful_". Harry started reading and before he knew it, midnight had come. He didn't know how much he had learned but vowed to try it on his followers tomorrow.

Harry slept peacefully that night, alone in his room, in complete darkness.

x-x-x-x-x

"I, chief Warlock of the Wizengamot call this meeting to order!" Dumbledore said in a loud voice. "Due to his incompetence and failure to take action, Azkaban is no more, Voldemort is getting powerful as is the brotherhood of Ebon. I call a vote for removal of Cornelius Fudge as minister of magic."

Voices erupted in the hall as the vote was being cast. And Fudge was ousted with a clear majority. But now the question was, who would be the next minister?

The answer came like a bullet as Dumbledore stood up. "I stand for interim Minister of Magic, till the end of the war. I feel that I have a duty to the wizarding world." Everyone knew that Dumbledore was a great wizard, fighting for the light and the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Though some people like Malfoy clearly objected.

"I feel you are only suited to deal with children Dumbledore" Malfoys' announcement was met with criticism. And once the votes were cast, there was nothing he could do. A clear majority declared Albus Dumbledore as the Minister of Magic, long awaited.

Malfoy knew the Dark Lord would not be happy about this. And left the Wizengamot as Dumbledore was taking the oath.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry woke up and got dressed and cleaned before heading towards the dining room. There was some murmur amongst his followers and an uneasiness. Harry guessed that something was wrong. His question was answered by a copy of the Daily Prophet.

_**Dumbledore sworn as Minister of Magic**_

_In a bold move by the Wizengamot, a long awaited one, Dumbldore was sworn in as the new minister of magic. Though Dumbledore insists it is only until the war ends, many feel he was the best candidate for the minister._

_Cornelius Fudge was clearly ousted for his wrong policies with respect to the war, and Dumbledore is taking a first introducing new policies._

_Soon after taking office, Albus Dumbledore passed laws to increase the Auror division by a great amount. Moreover the aurors are now allowed to arrest on spot without evidence and detain any suspects. Orders for the arrest of the Brotherhood of Ebon (grey robed wizards, for details see pg .12 ) have been given to the aurors._

_Some feel it is a bold move by the new minister but others feel that it is too late._

Harry sighed as he put down the newspaper. The real war had just begun.

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**A/N: How hard is it to push that button on the bottom left corner. And type a little review. I mean Harry is fighting a war and you could support him at least by giving a review!**


	15. Prisoners and Bloodbath

**A/N: Yeah I know its been a long time, but due to moving from one city to the other, I was delayed. The chapters might not be posted as frequently as in the past because of college starting but don't worry. Anyways, Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 15: Prisoners and Bloodbath**

**x-x-x-x-x**

"Did you guys hear the news? Dumbledore's the Minister!" Susan was pacing around the room of requirement as Nott and Richard were sitting on a couch. "That's definitely a set-back. Damn, the bastard was already manipulative and I shudder to think of what he could do now." Richard put in. As Susan and Richard were arguing over the consequences, Theodre was thinking of the benefits.

"What are you staring at?" Susan directed her question at Theodre who was looking at both of them with mild amusement.

"Don't you guys see? With Dumbledore gone, McGonagall will become the headmistress. And though she is pretty strict, she doesn't nose around in other peoples' business. That leaves our grounds open for recruitment." The young Nott smirked at his friends.

"I've got an idea!" Susan said, jumping in excitement. Richard rolled his eyes at her while Theodre remained silent. "Why don't we give invitation letters to all the students at Hogwarts to join the brotherhood of Ebon? I bet there are quite a few owls in the owlery." Susan finally blurted out.

"The idea has merit but it would be better if we sent the letters to a select few prominent or powerful students. And a whole lot of school owls carrying invitation letters are bound to be noticed. Why don't we place the letters secretly in the students' bags?" Richard replied.

Susan was nodding through it all but Theodre had his reservations. "I'm sure the rest of the school would be dumb enough to turn up on a letter alone, but Slytherins need to see something, a real show of power before they are convinced."

"So how are we going to convince the slimy snakes?" Susan asked in a bored voice. Theodre smirked at her, "I have some plans" before placing his hands behind his head and stretching on the couch.

So the rest of their "meeting" was spent by Richard and Susan making designs and picking orders for expensive parchments and envelopes. Theodre merely lay on the couch modifying his plan in his head which he would refuse to tell the others.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry had his followers training in the now partially complete duelling chambers while he himself sat reading the book on legilimency. After a while, he put the book away and stood up to observe the others.

Fred and George were naturally dueling each other in their usual creative style. Harry let them be, knowing that this was their strength. The most fiercest competition however, going on at the center was between Sid and Roland. Though Sid was taking the offensive with his knowledge of the dark arts, Roland was also no novice to dueling.

Sid sent a dark brown looking curse which Harry knew to be a muscle freezing curse. Reaching his mind out for Legilimency, Harry caught uncertainty in Rolands' mind. He probably didn't recognize the curse. Roland with his auror training was easily able to dodge out of the way and Harry caught frustration from Sid. It seemed as though Roland had simply dodged many of Sid's curses. Well, at least he could read emotions , Harry thought.

Harry stopped them both and went to face them. If he could read emotions from a distant away, he might be able to read surface thoughts with eye contact. First turning towards Sid he asked him to throw curses at him.

Keeping eye-contact, he was able to gain information on the curses Sid threw before he even said anything so he was able to construct a shield quite easily. Everybody in the room turned to look at the demonstration in awe.

Sid would throw curses and Harry (Lord Artemis for them) would block it like a simple expelliarmus. After Sid was sweating and had stopped, Harry turned to face them.

"An experienced Legilimens can easily read your thoughts. And as you have just seen, it can be quite an advantage in battle. But first, I suggest you all learn Occlumency."

Lunch time had arrived and Harry led them all to the dining room. "You know Roland, it wouldn't hurt to learn a few dark curses too." Harry laughed at the expression on Rolands' face. "At the least, you would be able to prepare a better defense against them"

"and they can be pretty nasty if you get hit." Sid put in.

Harry laughed along with all of them. But his mind was elsewhere. After lunch he would pay some visits to his dear prisoners.

x-x-x-x-x

Bellatrix looked around. It had been quite a lot of time sitting here, useless. The smell of her own excrement rang through her cell. Solitary confinement, day after day was even more troublesome than torture.

She had screamed, she had banged on the door, anything to make noises. So that somebody might notice her, at least talk to her. This boredom was killing her and on top of that the smell in her cell. She was beyond angry. Vowing to personally repay the person responsible once she was back with her Lord.

Once again she screamed in rage. And it was then that she finally saw the door swing open and a person in a gray robe entered.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry noticed the stink in the room as he entered. Placing an invisible smell repelling charm on his nose he stepped further in.

Suddenly Bellatrix lurched towards his wand. As if reacting on impulse, he waved his wand and Bellatrix was thrown back violently as she landed on a part of the floor where lay her own excrement.

"Now now Bella, better play nice." Harry mocked her. "The Dark Lord will have you and then, he will rip you apart, piece by piece." She sat up.

"Surely I've been more hospitable than Voldemort?" Harry smirked. Bellatrix chose to remain silent, no doubt formulating an escape plan. "If you miss his treatment so much Bella, why don't I replicate it. _Crucio!" _Thinking of all the pain the death of Sirius had caused him and his hatred for her Harry put all the power in his curse. And this time he did mean to cause her pain. The curse struck her straight in the chest as she fell down screaming and twitching in pain.

Harry left the curse on her until she was coughing up blood. Her blood and shit made a combination that Harry didn't want to see and therefore left her lying on the floor, panting. Harry had one thought when he was exiting, _Revenge is Sweet._

x-x-x-x-x

He decided to visit Moody's cell next. Making sure Moody was on the far side of the room, Harry opened the door. Once again, the response was anticipated as Moody hurled himself towards Harry, his wooden leg slowing him down. Another flick of his wand and Moody went flying towards the far end of the room, though not as violently as Bellatrix.

"We could do this the hard way Mad Eye or simply sit and talk, you get to decide." Harry waved his wand and two comfortable looking chairs appeared. Gesturing for Moody to sit on the other, Harry seated himself.

Harry kept his wand pointed at Moody. Moody let out a groan and then stood up and went to sit on the chair. He was no fool to keep attacking and getting himself injured.

"I could keep beating you until you resemble a pulp Moody but we both know that wouldn't accomplish anything. Before I start the interrogation, I'd like to invite you to join me."

"I'll join you if only to fight the Deatheaters and bring down Voldemort." Moody said after a few moments of thought. If Harry hadn't had been practicing legilimency right then, he wouldn't have been able to catch the thought in Moody's mind right before Moody's occlumency shields went up.

The plan behind Moody's acceptance was two fold, first he might likely escape the interrogation and secondly, he would go back to Dumbledore once out.

Anger rose in Harry and once again Moody was sent flying back by Harry and crashing to the wall. But this time he didn't fall down as shackles rose from the wall and clipped Moody's hands and legs, pinning him on to the wall.

Harry went up close to Moody and looked him straight in the eye while poking his wand onto Moody's throat. "I _hate _betrayal!" Harry hissed.

Putting his hand inside his pockets, Harry wandlessly conjured a vial filled with water. Pulling Moody's head back and showing him only a glimpse of the vial, Harry tried to open his mouth.

Moody obviously fell for it as he forcefully closed his mouth. Harry used a charm to remove to joined objects as Moody's both lips went the opposite way such forcefully that they started bleeding. Pouring five drops of water in his mouth. Moody was able to stop one and two with his tongue but couldn't stop the other three as the cleared the way towards his throat.

Moody had his eyes closed as Harry let his head fall back in place. After a second though Moody opened his eyes in surprise. 

Harry started laughing. "It was water". But after a few moments of laughing Harry became dead serious and once again pointed his wand at Moody's throat. "You think it's hard to make you spill out all your dirty secrets? You think I was hard on you?" Harry waved his wand a the wall towards the right became transparent showing the bloody condition of Bellatrix Lestrange. "Take a look, and maybe you'll think twice before betraying my offer."

Harry waved his wand and the wall became normal again, another wave and Moody fell to the floor. "Next time we'll...talk." Harry let the threat lie in before storming out of the room.

As soon as Harry left the room, Sid came storming down the hallway clutching his left arm. "My Lord, i've got an urgent calling from the dark Lord." Harry looked at him seriously, "take an emergency port-key and go." Sid needed no other word as he stormed out.

x-x-x-x-x

Voldemort stood on a pedestal looking at his army of deatheaters. "The fools think Dumbledore can stop us. Let us show them that under Dumbledore, they will be in worst conditions." Voldemort said through a magnified voice as the deatheaters cheered. "Lucius!" Voldemort called out.

"Where is the crystal?" Voldemort said through clenched teeth. Not wanting to anger his lord further, he took out a shining crystal from his pocket and enlarged it to its' actual size, it was easily larger than the size of a normal man.

Voldemort smiled. He would know if this was the original size of the crystal in a moment and if it wasn't, Lucius would pay dearly. Crystals were used to create wards with intricately carved ancient runes on them and Voldemort was just about to cast one heck of a ward. But the problem lie that a ward could be cast only on a crystal in it's original size and also on a non-conjured crystal. Magically pure crystals were expensive and he knew this would be a huge dent in Lucius's monetary assets, but it would be worth it. Magically pure crystals constantly powered the wards rendering them difficult to break, very difficult.

Voldemort first split the crystal into three equal pieces. And then he began casting. The deatheaters watched in awe as their lord was casting Runes mixed with spells which would make the wards nearly indestructable. Although the wards would last for three hours, those hours would be a bloodbath, Lucius thought.

When Voldemort had finished casting, he rocked from heavy magic exhaustion and Lucius came forward and escorting his master to the bedroom. Laying down, Voldemort muttered only one thing, "You know your orders" before falling unconscious from magical exhaustion.

And Lucius did know his orders. He were to make three groups of deatheaters, each would take a crystal and target a town, an entire town.

The reason the wards would remain for only three hours was that the dark Lord had made them to expand so as to cover a whole town. Lucius still couldn't get his master's amazing work out of his mind. But knowing that wasting time would be no good he went out to give orders. Tonight would quite literally be a blood bath.

x-x-x-x-x

It was dinner time and so Harry made his way to the dining room. Dinner passed in obvious silence as everybody was contemplating Voldemort.

Harry left as soon as he finished because he didn't want to enter the discussion on Voldemort. Deciding that he might as well visit the last cell which contained a bunch of Aurors before calling it a night.

x-x-x-x-x

Albus Dumbledore knew something was wrong as he sat in office and looked outside. His secretary burst into the office and almost screamed "Attack". Albus hurriedly got to his feet and to the floo ordering Auror HQ to be ready.

When he arrived at Auror HQ he was pleased to see thirty to forty Aurors ready for action. The head of the department reported and told him of the three folded attack.

"Well, we obviously don't have enough resources to counter all three, so we'll start with one and then move on to the others." Albus stated as the other aurors nodded.

They all apparated to the town that was being attacked and were surprised to find themselves outside the town rather than in it.

"WAIT!" Albus yelled as the aurors started to move towards the town center. But one auror had already proceeded quite far and in an instant was blown quite forcibly back. Albus winced as he heard a crack as the aurors' head connected with a tree.

"There are dark wards surrounding the town. And I fear this is Voldemort's doing." Albus nearly gasped in surprise as he observed the wards encircling the town. It was almost as if someone was constantly powering the wards. And then everything clicked into place. Voldemort was using warded magical crystals.

A few aurors beside him who were probably in the auror warding and ward-breaking department also gasped as they saw the strength of the wards. They all looked towards Albus who nodded gravely.

And so began the draining spell casting by Albus and the other few aurors to pluck out the wards one by one. As soon as they would break through even a tiny part, the crystal would re-enforce the wards over the area in a second.

So they planned how to get through. Albus would break an area in the ward and the aurors would hold it there while Albus made another dent. After two hours, they were able to make a huge dent in the wards that thankfully couldn't be repaired.

As soon as they walked in, Albus could feel death in the air. It wasn't like usual deatheater activities where they just tortured for fun. This time, they were aiming for the kill. Just blowing up houses, and killing people on the spot.

Dumbledore started to fire curses as did Aurors behind them and the deatheaters were soon concentrated around a glowing crystal. As soon as the aurors reached there an exchange of curses occurred. None of the sides getting a clear advantage.

Dumbledore had been drained from all the ward-breaking and so couldn't use his most powerful spells. He knew he'd have to break the crystal to allow other aurors to apparate in.

Waiting for his magic to encircle him Dumbledore sent one of the most powerful spell that he knew which was used to drain an object of magic. As soon as the curse hit the crystal, the crystal could not change the change in its magic and burst into a million pieces.

The deatheaters knew there was nothing left and therefore apparated instantly away. Dumbledore sat down as a wave of dizziness spread through him.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry placed a physical yet invisible shield around him before entering the huge cell. As expected, some of the aurors lurched towards him but were held back by his shield. The aurors were not affected by the cell as much because they were all together and could talk to each other unlike Bellatrix and Moody. Harry planned to remedy that.

"What do you want from us?" An auror who seemed to be the leader of the group declared. The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement.

"The ministry is incompetent even with Dumbledore as the minister." Harry heard several gasps at that, some of the aurors seemed happy at that. "As I was saying, I think if I had aurors at my disposal, I could put them to better use. I can't say it won't be any dangerous but after all we are in a war." Harry stated matter of factly.

"So you're going to kidnap aurors and put them to your dirty use?" Tonks snapped.

"Ah, Nymphadora, I never said that, yet I would accept any help. You see I too share the same goals as Dumbledore but we both have our ways. You see, I don't believe in Dark Wizards and Light Wizards. I don't unlike Dumbledore see this world as in a fairy tale where the light wizards win and the dark wizards are defeated in the end."

"Now, I want you all to think on one thing, what has the ministry or even Dumbledore done yet to defeat Voldemort. They may delay his plans at times, but never stop him. Next time I visit, I'll tell you what I plan to do. Good Evening!" Harry thought that went better than the other two visits.

x-x-x-x-x

Harry had just come into the living room when he saw Sid portkeyed there, on his knees panting heavily. "Blood...death...attack...Dumbledore...nothing" Harry went to calm Sid down and grabbing him from his shoulders escorted him to a couch.

And so it took Sid only a few minutes to retell the tale. Sid was part of the group that had faced the Aurors and Dumbledore. And after hearing everything Harry sighed, Voldemort was picking up pace.

Harry bid Sid Goodnight and went up to his own bedroom.

It was a long time since Harry had been this vulnerable. Placing wards and charms on his room, Harry drifted into a facade of loss and sorrow for every life that he hadn't been able to save that night. Voldemort had once again proven the monster that he was and Dumbledore how incompetent he was. Heck with his resources, both with the Ministry and Hogwarts, Dumbledore should have been able to prevent at least one attack.

Harry blamed Voldemort for the lives taken that night and he also blamed Voldemort for the lives that he, Harry had been forced to take. It was all part of war, people had to die. But Harry would make sure Voldemort would pay. A new determination rose in him. Harry wiped a single tear off his cheek. This would be the last tear he ever shed before the end of the war.

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**A/N: Next chapter, we'll see Harry mark his followers + we'll see how Hogwarts responds to invitation letters from the brotherhood of ebon + we'll also find out something about Nott's plan + The Prisoners' response + There may be other things which I don't want to give away.**

**Anyways REVIEW please if you support Harry or should i say, Lord Artemis. **


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